England’s flamboyant all-rounder, Ben Stokes has made himself unavailable for England Cricket’s next major assignment, the ICC Men’s t20 World Cup 2024. Stokes, being a crucial member during England’s last t20 World Cup campaign also being the one who hit the winning runs for England helping them lift the title back in 2022 has only played two T20 matches since.
After initially retiring from ODI cricket in the summer of 2022, Stokes changed his mind to participate in the 50-over mega event, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup held late last year. However, this decision meant postponing knee surgery, limiting his bowling to just five overs during England’s recent 4-1 Test series loss to India. He plans to feature for Durham in the County Championship in the coming months, having decided against participating in IPL 2024.
“I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfill a full role as an allrounder in all formats of cricket,” Stokes said in a statement released by the ECB on Tuesday. “Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.
In the absence of Ben Stokes, England will be roping in the all-round services of Liam Livingstone who can be effective with the bat and very much handy with the ball in their ICC Men’s t20 World Cup campaign. With a squad which was very much well balanced in the last t20 World Cup campaign, it would be interesting to see how far England can go in the upcoming t20 World Cup without the services of Ben Stokes.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye.
