England's Test team coach Brendon McCullum has reacted to Ben Stokes' sudden decision to retire from ODI cricket. The coach said that he was happy with Stokes’s decision, but was not sure if this would become a trend among all-format cricketers given the hectic schedule.
McCullum told SENZ Breakfast: “Yeah of course I am happy with his decision. There are not too many all-format players. He's probably in a luxurious position that he's able to do that, but also with the demands of the schedules and with his heightened schedule as Test captain, it would've become too much. He also has a young family and there's a lot going on.”
He further added, “I don't know if it's symbolic of where the game itself is at around the globe, but I see it as an absolute positive to be honest. I'm looking forward to being able to spend even more time with 'Stokesy' trying to get this thing cracking.”
Stokes’ retirement from ODI cricket at the age of 31 is still a shock for many, and the Test head coach admitted that everyone would want to see him playing all three formats, but it is good for Test cricket.
He said, “Obviously we would've loved to see Ben playing in three forms of the game, he's an out-and-out superstar and we've seen what he's been able to achieve, but sometimes things have to give way and I look at it as a positive that he's going to have the time to really immerse himself in the Test side.”
McCullum further explained, “Stokes is the skipper of our Test side and the job that I've seen him do with this team in a very short period of time really excites me about what he can do with this side, particularly now that he'll have more available time rather than jumping from series to series to series.
I guess England's a slightly different set-up to most other world cricket teams because they play a lot of cricket, they're a wanted commodity around the world and they're able to generate such a fan following and also the financial returns that the game requires to support 16 Counties and the big organization that is English cricket.”
McCullum feels Stokes can now focus more on Test cricket.
He signed off by saying, “I also think it's a real mark of respect of the man that he's sort of bucking the trend of the short version of the game and actually trying to focus on what he sees as a huge task trying to get Test cricket back to the levels, or even exceed the levels, that it's had in the past. I think it's a noble play from him.”
(With PTI Inputs)
