Stokes: Cricketers are not cars
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|| CF DESK ||
England Test captain Ben Stokes believes his ODI retirement could be a wake-up call for international cricket and said the players “are not cars, you can’t just fill us up”.
Stokes announced his retirement from the 50-over game stating that England’s fixture schedule was ‘unsustainable’ and that he no longer felt able to meet its demands.
“You want the best players to be playing as much as you possibly can, all the time. It isn’t just me or us, you see it all around the world now where teams are having to rest some players in a certain series so they feel like they are getting a break. We are not cars, you can’t just fill us up and we’ll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again,"
Stokes, who took over as England's test captain in April, has battled injuries in recent times and also took a break from the game last year to focus on his mental well-being.
“I just feel like there is too much cricket rammed in for people to play all three formats now. It is a lot harder than it used to be. I look back to when I used to do all three and it didn’t feel like it was as jam-packed,"
“Obviously you want to play as much cricket as you possibly can but when it is making you feel tired, sore and you’ve got to look towards five or six months down the road for what you’re doing in the here and now, it is probably not the best thing,” he added.
