English Test skipper Ben Stokes has decided to say good bye to ODI cricket after Tuesday’s game against South Africa at his home ground in Durham.
Stokes made his ODI debut against Ireland in 2011 and has scored 2919 runs in 104 ODIs, averaging 39.44, including three centuries and 21 half-centuries, and picked 74 wickets at an average of 41.79.
“I will play my last game for England in ODI cricket on Tuesday in Durham. I have decided to retire from this format. This has been an incredibly tough decision to make. I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way.”
“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 shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it,” said Stokes in an official statement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Stokes will be remembered for his Player-of-the-Match performance in the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s, where he slammed an unbeaten 84 to send the match into a Super Over as England claimed their first ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup title on home soil in the most thrilling of circumstances.