Former England captain Nasser Hussain has slammed the concept of modern-day cricket behind the early retirement of Ben Stokes from One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
Notably, Stokes, at the age of 31, took a shocking decision to retire from the 50-over format after playing just 104 games. In his retirement message, the Durham cricketer mentioned that playing three formats had become unsustainable for him.
“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. 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,” Stokes had said in a statement on Monday.
Hussain reckoned that the overdose of cricket is the reason behind cricketers quitting one form of cricket early in their career.
“It is disappointing news, to say the least, but it is a reflection of where the cricketing schedule is at the moment. It is madness for players. If the ICC just keep putting on ICC events and individual boards just keep filling the gaps with as much cricket as possible, eventually these cricketers will just say I’m done,” Hussain wrote in his column for Sky Sports.
“Stokes is done with one format aged 31, which can’t be right, really. The schedule needs looking at, it is a bit of a joke at the moment. It came as a surprise, to be honest. It is a real shame because he gave us and England fans their greatest day for a very long time in 2019, a day we’ll never forget with that World Cup final win,” he added.
