'Individual boards keep filling in gaps...': Ex-England captains furious at 'joke' schedule for Stokes' shock retirement

Ben Stokes, England's newly-announced Test captain, announced his retirement from ODI cricket on Monday leaving world cricket shocked. The star England all-rounder, who just turned 31 and had played a pivotal role in the team's 2019 World Cup final success, admitted that playing all three formats was "just unsustainable for me now", a statement which left former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan concerned as they criticised cricket’s “joke” schedule.

Stokes was slated to play all of England's ODI matches this summer and rest through the T20I series against India and South Africa. He also revealed that he would miss The Hundred. However, Stokes has now opted to draw curtains on his ODI career, in a bid to give "everything I have to Test cricket" and "my total commitment to the T20 format".

Speaking to Sky Sports over the shock announcement, Hussain blamed the poor scheduling of cricket across the calendar year.

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“The issue is not with the ECB, Rob Key or Ben Stokes. The issue is with the schedule. If the ICC just keep putting on ICC events, and the individual boards just keep filling in the gaps with as much cricket as possible, then eventually these cricketers will say ‘I’m done'. Ben Stokes is done in one format aged 31, which can’t be right really. The schedule needs looking at, it’s a bit of a joke at the moment," he said.

Stokes, who has only played just nine more ODIs since the World Cup win owing to injuries, mental health break and workload management, has scored 2919 runs in his 104-match career in the format at an average of 39.4 and picked 74 wickets.

“Sometimes it just hits you that I can’t do this format anymore and the only thing you are in control of is your own retirement. It’s disappointing news to say the least. But if you’re a multi-format, multi-dimensional England Test match captain like Ben Stokes, who throws himself into his job 100 per cent on and off the field, eventually something is going to have to give. It’s a reflection of where the cricketing schedule is at the moment. It is madness for players," Nasser added.

Vaughan, taking to Twitter after the big announcement, wants ICC to do away with bilateral ODI and T20I series with all individual boards wanting to push for space in the calendar year for their respective leagues.

"Bi lateral ODI / T20 series will have to go if all the boards around the world are desperate for there own Franchise tournaments !! Something has to give .. It shouldn’t be players retiring from one format aged 31 !!!" he tweeted.

Stokes will play his final ODI game on Tuesday, at his home ground, the Riverside.