England all-rounder Ben Stokes has announced his readiness for a white-ball return under Brendon McCullum. The 33-year-old thinks that having the same coach with consistent messaging across formats is promising for the team.
Stokes has not represented England for the white-ball format since the 2023 World Cup. The England Test captain had taken a hiatus from ODIs in 2022, but he returned to them exclusively for the 50-over World Cup last year.
Speaking to Sky Sports in the middle of the third ODI between England and Australia, the all-rounder sung high praise over McCullum, saying it is simply fantastic to watch a coach whole-heartedly dedicate himself to a certain form of cricket.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for the white-ball team to experience what Baz has brought to the Test team. He’s an incredible coach who speaks with utter commitment, and it’s nice to have all three teams now with the same messaging and the same philosophies towards playing cricket,” Stokes said.
Therefore, the left-handed batsman stated that he would say yes if McCullum invited him to rejoin the team.
“If I get the call and [Baz] says, ‘do you want to come and play?’ Then obviously, it’s definitely going to be a yes, but I’m not going to be too disappointed if I don’t, because I can just sit back and watch everyone else go out and smack it,” he added.
Stokes has opted out of the T20 World Cup in June this year in favour of recapturing his full fitness for the test series back home however was seen playing for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred 2024.
“It was a muscle tear, which just slipped into the tendon”- Ben Stokes
Stokes announced that he would receive a scan on his hamstring with the tour to Pakistan approaching and said his rehab has gone to plan. However, he stressed the importance of firing on all cylinders, stating via ESPN Cricinfo:
“I’ve got my six-and-a-half week scan tomorrow, so we’ll know more from that, but I’m feeling really good. It was a hamstring tear that just sneaked into my tendon, so that’s why it’s taken a week or two longer, but my rehab has gone really well, so hopefully tomorrow everything gets the all-clear, and we can start pushing it a bit more.”
“There’s a lot more than just my hamstrings that I need to get back firing again, in terms of bowling, because you use everything. So I need to get that all right to make sure that I don’t do any more damage to any other parts of my body.”
England’s Test tour of Pakistan will start from October 7.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.