Longer-form white-ball cricket is paying the price for the T20 takeover – I’m not sure if anything can save it now
Was there really nothing we could do to allow Ben Stokes to continue to contribute in some way in all three formats without becoming completely exhausted?Was there really nothing we could do to allow Ben Stokes to continue to contribute in some way in all three formats without becoming completely exhausted?A
If the priority within the sport is quality and entertainment, the best players have to be given the right conditions to produce their best performances – but is that the priority at all? It seems clear to me that for the people at the top of the game it is all about money.
Ben Stokes reacts after losing his wicket against South Africa during the first one-day international in Durham.For all that, Stokes’s retirement seems to have been accepted very quickly. England waited so long to win the World Cup, and now will miss his experience, his presence, character and skill as they try to defend it.
Sometimes it’s like he is deliberately sticking two fingers up at convention and saying: ‘I’m just going to do what I want.’ But this is reckless batting, and if any other cricketer had done it they would have faced a torrent of criticism.