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Former England captain Andrew Strauss has criticised Ben Stokes for announcing his retirement from international cricket amid the third Test against New Zealand, the decider at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. There were rumours of Stokes’ retirement after the nightclub incident. After getting green light from Cricket Regulator, Stokes returned to action in the third Test, the decider. But, by Day 4, he made his decision final to bid goodbye to international arena. England ended up losing the decider, an anti-climax to Stokes’ international career. Strauss feels that Stokes' retirement turned to be a huge distraction for the England side which was fighting it out against Tom Latham's BlackCaps.
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“It doesn’t feel like a time for negatives and so I hesitate to say this but I’m not convinced that the whole thing was orchestrated the right way yesterday - it seems like a huge distraction to a team that was battling to avoid a series defeat and the cricket in the last session very much had an ‘end of term’ feel to it,” Strauss wrote in a post on Linkedin.
Stokes took a wicket first ball after his retirement news became public. In the unsuccessful run chase, he walked out all guns blazing. Opening the innings, he scored 30 runs from 20 balls, hitting two sixes and as many fours.
Strauss huge praise for Stokes
However, Strauss believes that Stokes' retirement call was inevitable. He lauded the 35-year-old all-rounder for his iconic knock in the run chase against Pat Cummins' Australia at Headingley, Leeds. He praised Stokes for standing up at big moments like the knock in the ODI World Cup 2019 final against New Zealand.
He feels that Stokes had the right to say goodbye to international cricket on his own terms but his approach could have been more sensible. He went on to say that 'English cricket will be far worse' with the gutsy all-rounder retiring. He believes that the England team will find it hard to replace a player like him. Also, the England side will not be as threatening as it looked for the oppositions as it did with Stokes in it.
McCullum wanted Stokes to change his mind
After the series defeat to New Zealand, head coach Brendon McCullum revealed that he tried to convince Stokes to rethink his decision but his mind was already made. Stokes admitted that he burnt himself out in preparation after the Ashes series defeat on Australian soil.
With Stokes retired, vice-captain Harry Brook is expected to take over the leadership position across formats. The all-rounder gave Brook his backing after his farewell Test.
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