Ben Stokes decided to retire from One Day Internationals public on July 18, 2022. The primary reason behind the shock move is that the southpaw found featuring in all three formats “unsustainable.”
“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule & what is expected of us (the English team) but I also feel that I’m taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team they’re all.”
The premature farewell of Ben Stokes is surely emotional. But reasoning provided by him makes sense. It does take a serious toll on a cricketer’s body to play all three forms of the game. More so, when you’re a pace-bowling all-rounder like the Christchurch lad.
Ben Stokes gets emotional during the last ODI of his career
So, as I said earlier, the July 19 Chester-le-Street fixture against RSA was Ben Stokes’ last One Day International.
The swashbuckling all-rounder was given the honour of leading the side to the ground in his last One Day affair.
Upon arrival, Ben Stokes was greeted with rousing applause from the spectators present at the 2019 World Cup hero’s county city (Durham) home ground.
First, he (presumably) tried to control his feelings. But as he entered the playing field, the lefty was overwhelmed with the reception. Tears came streaming down his face as Ben Stokes rode an emotional rollercoaster while entering his home ground to play the last ODI of his career.
❤️
🏴 #ENGvSA 🇿🇦 | @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/teNgTVlV7T
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2022
Hurriedly, he tried to rub his sobs off his cheeks. But by then the crowd had already known– cloaked behind the ‘fighter’ persona, there always lived a little and emotional boy inside of Ben Stokes.
Ben Stokes ODI Retirement: Top 3 performances from the England all-rounder’s One Day career
Sadly, the emotional ODI farewell was far from ideal for Ben Stokes and co. The 31-y/o went wicket-less and scored just 5 with the bat as England stumbled to a 62-run-loss against South Africa.
