Ben Stokes’s ODI exit sparks concerns over international schedule

Ben Stokes

England World Cup hero Ben Stokes was blunt when explaining his decision to retire from one-day internationals: "We are not cars, you can't just fill us up." But despite the 2019 World Cup-winner's exit from 50-over cricket, meaningful reform of a fixture schedule that England Test captain Stokes has labelled "unsustainable" is unlikely.

International fixtures underpin a lucrative broadcasting contract the England and Wales Cricket Board has with Sky TV worth about £220 million ($264 million) a year and are the main revenue-providers for most of the sport's leading nations. Since the start of 2017, England have had nearly 500 scheduled days of cricket, which puts them ahead of India in second place on 472.

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Making matters worse, a knock-on consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is that several delayed fixtures have been shoehorned into this year's calendar. Stokes bowed out of the ODI game after England's defeat by South Africa at his Durham home ground on Tuesday, a match in which the weary-looking 31-year-old all-rounder took 0-44 and managed just five with the bat. He will still play Tests and T20Is.

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