Stokes made the World Cup call after Ashes, says Buttler
Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler
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England’s captain Jos Buttler revealed Ben Stokes was poised to make an ODI retirement comeback after finishing the Ashes series.
Stokes, the player of the match in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand at Lord's and the man whose unbeaten fifty led his side to victory in the Twenty20 in 2022 decided to come out of retirement ahead ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
Stokes was contacted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and captain Jos Buttler to help defend the World Cup title.
"It was Ben's call. You all know Ben pretty well by now - I don't think anyone talking to him would persuade him. We had some conversations quite a while ago about it," said Buttler.
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Buttler revealed that Stokes had been pondering a return for "a while" before making the decision shortly after winning the fifth and final Ashes.
"Ben is very much his own man, he makes his own decisions. I've played with him for a very long time, I'm good friends with him. Me badgering him and saying 'come back, come back' is not really the way things work with Ben,”
"He very much makes up his own mind and decides. We had some conversations around it and just left it in his court. I'm sure the lure of playing in a World Cup is quite big for someone as competitive and as driven as he is to play in an England shirt," he added.
Stokes appeared in 105 ODIs until he announced his retirement from the format in 2022 owing to workload management.
