Ben Stokes, the captain of England’s Test workforce, has raised issues over the scheduling of worldwide cricket, saying the authorities don’t give the matter sufficient thought.
Stokes highlighted England’s three-match one-day worldwide collection in Australia in November, which began 4 days after they received the Twenty20 World Cup.
“That was shoving three games in there,” he stated. “It made sense to someone to schedule a series which meant nothing.”
“Some people say ‘you are playing for England, that should be enough’. But there is a lot more to factor in. You want international cricket to be the highest standard.
“But now we have seen numerous completely different squads being picked and gamers being rested, and that is not the way in which worldwide cricket ought to go.”
A disinterested-looking England were easily beaten in the series in front of poor crowds.
Stokes was being speaking on BBC Radio to a former great England allrounder Sir Ian Botham as part of a feature on the future of Test cricket.
“Test match cricket known as that for an excellent purpose, as a result of it assessments all the schools of a participant,” stated Botham.
“The emphasis is an excessive amount of in the direction of white ball. [The schedule] needs to be balanced higher. You must make room for all of it.”
The pair spoke about the way in which Stokes, in harness with coach Brendon McCullum, has encouraged England’s Test team to play attacking cricket.
“Test cricket has been spoken about in a method I do not like,” stated Stokes.
“It is shedding the eye of the followers with all the brand new codecs and franchise competitions. For me it’s so vital for the sport. I like enjoying Test cricket and felt we might do one thing completely different.
“If people turn up excited about what they are going to watch you’ve already won before a ball has been bowled.”
Botham, who was a famous entertainer as a participant, responded: “It’s about putting bums on seats. You will lose the odd game but people are wanting to see Test cricket again. If we lose Test cricket, we lose cricket as we know it.”
Both gamers are well-known for uplifting inconceivable Test wins towards Australia at Headingley, Botham in 1981, Stokes in 2019.
“I was there at Headingley in 2019 and I thought ‘this is fun, this is how it should be played’,” stated Botham.
“I loved watching the Aussies, their shoulders dropped, it takes a lot to do that. Stokes is box office. He empties bars.”
Stokes replied: “The miracle of Headingley 1981, everyone who knows cricket knows about that. So for my moment to be compared is pretty cool.”
