Ben Stokes unhappy about modern day cricket schedule, slams ICC

International cricket has now upped its intensity and on almost every alternate day there is one fixture or the other. Throughout the calendar year, we have contests unfurling ahead of us and as things stand, no matter how entertaining it is for us, for the players it becomes pretty difficult to manage.

English all-rounder Ben Stokes made his discontent vocal about the unsparing schedule that has left most of the international cricketers reeling in agony. Injuries have got too frequent while exhaustion is now a common spectacle in the international arcade.

In a conversation with Ian Botham on BBC, Ben Stokes said, “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.”

He further added, “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.”

Stokes shed further light on how the rise of franchise cricket has impacted the game in recent times. He said, “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”, concluded Ben.