Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball head coach has pleaded with Ben Stokes to reconsider his decision to retire from the One Day International cricket to help his side defend their 50-over crown in India next year.
Stokes announced his shock retirement from ODI cricket in July citing an unenviable workload schedule of playing all three formats and balancing it with the captaincy of the test side.
But the 31-year-old proved how vital he is for England’s success when he guided his team to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the final of the T20 World Cup.
With the game firmly in the balance, Stokes’ unbeaten 52 off 49 balls helped his side over the line and become the first side to hold the T20 and the ODI world cups simultaneously.
His importance to the team is not lost on Matthew Mott who is hoping Ben Stokes can be lured back to help his side defend their 50-over title in 11 months’ time.
“When he spoke to me about his ODI retirement, one of the first things I said was that I’d back any decision he made,”.
“He didn’t necessarily have to retire, he could just not play 50 overs for a while. I did say ‘you could always unretire’. It’s his decision. He’ll do what’s right for English cricket and he always has”.
“It’s going to be a World Cup year and we don’t play much T20 cricket for a while but it will be a decision that’s up to him. The more we can get him is great. He’s a world-class player”.
