England Test captain Ben Stokes has criticised the demanding international schedule. With the emerging T20 leagues around the globe, cricketers who play in all formats would have little to no downtime.
The all-rounder made a similar observation and emphasised it was pointless to stage the ODI series between Australia and England, which took place immediately following the T20 World Cup in Australia.
“The scheduling doesn’t get enough attention that it should. A great example is England’s one-day series against Australia after the T20 World Cup. That was shoving three games in there. 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 we have seen a lot of different squads being picked and players being rested, and that’s not the way international cricket should go,” Stokes said while speaking to Ian Botham on BBC.
“It is losing the attention of the fans with all the new formats and franchise competitions” – Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes recently led England to a record 3-0 clean sweep against Pakistan while playing a style of cricket known as “BazBall,” which is incredibly aggressive.
The all-rounder, though, is not pleased that the format is not receiving more attention now that T20 and T10 leagues have developed.
“Test cricket has been spoken about in a way I don’t like. It is losing the attention of the fans with all the new formats and franchise competitions. We understand there are so many opportunities for players away from Test cricket. But for me it is so important for the game. I love playing Test cricket and felt we could do something different. Taking the result away from the mindset is a great starting point.”
“Putting focus on making every day entertaining. Not allowing people to know what is going to happen. If people turn up excited about what they are going to watch you’ve already won before a ball has been bowled,” the England Test skipper added.
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