Ben Stokes

The highs and lows of a remarkable ODI career for England.

But Stokes' composure in the clutch moments was something to behold - not least his realisation that keeping that final ball from Boult on the ground and accepting the Super Over if needs be was preferable to swinging for glory and risking it all, a lesson he learnt from watching Bangladesh implode with 1 needed from three balls against India at the 2016 T20 World Cup. And then, of course, he trotted straight back out to do it all again, eight vital runs out of 15 setting the stage for Jofra Archer - a bowler whom he was able to lend wise counsel given his own crushing experience in Kolkata three years earlier. Barely a fortnight later, however - and in an ominous precursor to today's decision - Stokes had declared he would be taking an indefinite break from all cricket to manage his mental health. But as he back-pedalled towards the rope, reverse-cupping his right hand to pluck a fast, flat thwack out of the sky, and in the process, all but end any prospect of a fightback, Stokes created a moment that captivated the Oval crowd, and probably settled a few butterflies (though they'd be back soon enough). The fact that he'd also top-scored with 89 from 79 balls in England's 311 for 8 was quickly an afterthought. Amid a huge media buzz on his comeback tour in New Zealand in February 2018, Stokes would claim a Player-of-the-Match award in his second match of the series, and come the tour of Sri Lanka the following winter, England's coach Trevor Bayliss had to step in to implore his man to tone down his training, so determined was he to prove he would never let his team-mates down again. A match that ought to be remembered for Moeen Ali's astonishing century, 102 from 57 balls all told, with seven fours and eight sixes, is instead recalled as the reason why Stokes happened to be in Bristol in the small hours of September 25, 2017 - the night on which he was arrested and charged with affray following an incident outside a club. He offered Stokes as blank a slate as English cricket as a whole, recalling him to the Test team at No. 6, from where he made an 85-ball hundred in the first Test - the fastest ever made at Lord's - and trusting him to be the heartbeat in a reconfigured one-day side. In isolation, the sight of South Africa's No. 8 holing out to deep midwicket might count for little, especially with England already in command of the game. The stand-out feature of Stokes' World Cup-winning heroics was his calmness amid the chaos. The pity for England was that they mislaid that method in their very next game, the semi-final in Cardiff, when Stokes himself made 34 from 64 balls while seemingly clinging on for dear life on an abrasive deck and against a fired-up and reverse-swinging Pakistan attack. Stokes' progress wasn't entirely linear thereafter, however, and few setbacks were more 'crushing' than his tour of the Caribbean two months after the Ashes. Despite being retained in the top-order for the three-match ODI series, he returned scores of 5, 4 and 0, which - following on from scores of 0 and 5 in his final two innings in Australia - sent his form into a tail-spin. At the second time of asking, he was reunited with the WACA wicket where he'd belted a sublime maiden Test century earlier on the tour, and responded to the new responsibility with an unrecognisably mature innings of 70 from 84 balls. Stokes debuted as a 20-year-old in the summer of 2011, as part of the rebuild after that year's World Cup, but in an era when England's instincts were still to build steadily then slog in the final ten overs, he found himself pigeon-holed in the lower-middle order - often as low as No. 8 - while the likes of Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were trusted with the proper batting.

From the ECB to ICC, governing bodies need to realise how the packed schedule makes the 50-over game vulnerable.

The latter’s appeal is understandable in the modern economic climate but, having passed up the Indian Premier League this year and hinted he will do so again before next summer’s Ashes assault, it is clear the type of cricket which is calling him. “I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us,” he said. For a cricketer paid by one of the boards responsible for this, to be so explicit in pushing back is quite the thing. He averaged 50 with the bat during Eoin Morgan’s five-year World Cup project, is a genuine sixth bowler and fields like a demon. And Stokes could not have been clearer about the bigger picture here, citing an “unsustainable schedule” and his fear of letting down teammates. Yep, the champion all-rounder who powered England to World Cup victory by the barest of margins three summers ago, in front of a packed house at Lord’s and with the UK’s largest cricket audience since the heady 2005 Ashes, has decided the 50-over stuff must make way.

'Cricket is broken': England great's shock call exposes 'complete bull***t' ruining game.

The schedule needs looking at, it is a bit of a joke at the moment.” He added: “Like Soda Streams, road atlases and SLR cameras, the traditional one-dayer is now a heritage product of dubious relevance. “The one-day format used to be a format where bowlers had a say. The fixture list is complete bullsh*t and it’s wrecking the players and the product. But there can be no doubt that change must take placeto protect players and the game itself. People used to bide their time and take the game deep. In the period June 2022 to March 2023, England is set to play 12 Tests, 18 ODIs, 19 bilateral T20Is and a T20 World Cup – over 100 days of men’s international cricket in all. As Rory Dollard of PA declared even more simply: “Stokes’ ODI retirement – complete with very carefully worded criticism of England’s schedule – has to be the tipping point. Matt Roller wrote for ESPN Cricinfo: “In abstract, it should serve as a wake-up call for cricket’s administrators. “After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I am announcing my retirement from international one-day cricket.,” Pietersen said. There is simply too much cricket on the calendar. But since taking over from Root as Test captain he has looked like his old self, giving everything to a job he clearly loves.”

Stokes was England's hero in their win over the Blackcaps at the 2019 World Cup final.

England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes will retire from one-day international cricket after Tuesday's match against South Africa in Durham. The 31-year-ol.

I hope we can win on Tuesday and set the series up nicely against South Africa." ODI cricket will surely miss you." "I would like to wish Jos Buttler, Matthew Mott, the players and the support staff every success going forward. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team their all. I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way," Stokes wrote. The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it.

England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes will retire from one-day international cricket after Tuesday's match against South Africa in Durham.

I hope we can win on Tuesday and set the series up nicely against South Africa." "I would like to wish Jos Buttler, Matthew Mott, the players and the support staff every success going forward. ODI cricket will surely miss you." I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way," Stokes wrote. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team their all. You're the best fans in the world. The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it. "I will play my last game for England in ODI cricket on Tuesday in Durham. I have decided to retire from this format. Former England spinner Monty Panesar wrote: "Stokes has made a selfless decision for the benefit of the England team." "I will give everything I have to Test cricket, and now, with this decision, I feel I can also give my total commitment to the T20 format. "As always, the England fans have always been there for me and will continue to be there. "As hard as a decision as this was to come to, it's not as hard dealing with the fact I can't give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore.

The England Test captain may lose out financially by retiring from the 50-over format.

“To do that he feels this is the best way. It’s not going to be easy but that’s what it needs.” “I was probably surprised at the timing but I’m not surprised that he’s had to give one format away.

Stokes confirmed that England's first ODI match against South Africa on July 19 will be his last and it broke the hearts of his millions of fans across the ...

A well thought, selfless decision by a great player who… The best pla… Ben Stokes’ retirement from ODIs should send a message to administrations about the crammed schedules. https://t.co/rv1ilEvYsz— CricksLab (@CricksLab) 1658159138000 https://t.co/3l5kyIcfd5— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) 1658144125000 The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it,'" he added.

England test captain Ben Stokes is retiring from one-day internationals because of what he describes as an “unsustainable” cricket schedule, ending a career ...

The teams also were tied after the super over and England won on boundary countback. It is a typically selfless decision that will benefit England long-term.” “Three formats are just unsustainable for me now.

Monday's surprise announcement on social media came with a pointed suggestion from Stokes that England's fixture schedule was 'unsustainable'

But he wants to do the Test job as best as he can, he wants to take England’s Test team forward. “I was probably surprised at the timing but I’m not surprised that he’s had to give one format away. With me being captain of the Test team and how much cricket we have coming up, I do have to look after my body. “It is a lot harder than it used to be. I just feel like there is too much cricket rammed in for people to play all three formats now. It isn’t just me or us, you see it all around the world now where teams are having to rest some players in a certain series so they feel like they are getting a break.

Ben Stokes has complained about the demands being placed on leading multiformat players, calling England's schedule 'unsustainable'

“I better get it sorted right now if I want to be fit for the T20 World Cup, which is the goal,” Wood said. “I just feel like there is too much cricket rammed in for people to play all three formats now,” Stokes said before the start of his final ODI. “It is a lot harder than it used to be. “It’s just been so frustrating when I have done everything I could, listened to all the experts, done what they said, just not to be able to get over that final hump is so frustrating. After that game it hit me in the face,” he told Sky and the BBC. “I look at the way Jimmy [Anderson] and [Stuart] Broady’s careers have gone when they stopped playing white-ball cricket. Hopefully when I’m 35, 36 still playing Test cricket I can look back on this decision and say I’m very happy with it.” It has an effect on you, the playing, the travel, it does add up.”

"Yeah, Virat's gonna go down as one of the greatest ever players to have ever played the game in all three formats," Stokes told former England captain ...

I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way,” Stokes wrote in the post. The England Test captain hailed Kohli's competitive nature and said he has loved every time he has played against the former India captain. Respect,” Kohli commented on Stokes' Instagram post on Monday in which the England all-rounder said he was fortunate enough to represent England in all formats but as the new Test captain he would want to devote more time to the longest format of the game.

England Test captain beefs up his pleas to protect players' wellbeing upon his ODI retirement.

It's not a nice feeling, knowing I have to look after myself, the captain is trying to look after me, the medical team and the coach as well. We had five minutes together, he said you don't owe the team anything and that I had a lot of cricket coming up. You want the best players to be playing as much as you possibly can, all the time, and it isn't just me or us. Obviously you want to play as much cricket as you possibly can but when it is making you feel tired, sore and you've got to look towards five or six months down the road for what you're doing in the here and now it is probably not the best thing. The allrounder was speaking ahead of his 105th and final ODI after taking the decision to retire from the format. "We are not cars," he stated to Test Match Special. "You can't just fill us up and we'll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again.

Ben Stokes says his ODI retirement was triggered by an "unsustainable" cricketing schedule, saying the calendar is currently too packed for players to ...

"That's what I want to do. "I asked Stuart whether he felt stopping playing white-ball cricket was a huge reason why he is still playing at 36 and has played [sic] 160 Test matches? "It is a lot harder than it used to be. Hopefully when I'm 35 or 36, still playing Test and T20 cricket, I can say I'm very happy with this decision" "The schedule at the moment is all very jam-packed. Ben Stokes, speaking to Sky Sports: "I want to play 140, 150 Test matches.

The former Australia captain says Ben Stokes' retirement bombshell has exposed a bigger problem for cricket. More here.

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A visibly moved Stokes received a stirring round of applause from the Durham crowd as he led his team out into the ground in the first match against South ...

When it was the star all-rounder's turn at the batting crease, he made just five from 11 balls before he missed an attempted reverse sweep of Aiden Markram and was adjudged leg before wicket. When they caught up with Stokes, Buttler, who replaces him as captain for the rest of the series, held him in a brief hug. Stokes was hit around for 44 runs in the five overs he bowled, and he went wicketless.