LONDON: The door is open for the trial captain Ben Stokes end his retirement from one-day internationals and join Englandthe title defense at the World Cup 50 overs in India later this year, the white ball coach Matthew Mott said.
Stokes was named player of the match in the 2019 World Cup final when England beat New Zealand at Lord’s and was their top scorer in the T20 World Cup final in Australia Last year.
He decided to quit cricket for a day last year citing his workload, but Mott said he would be happy to discuss the situation if things changed before the World Cup in October-November.
“The door is always open for a player of this quality, but we are also very aware that his main focus is red-ball cricket as captain,” Mott told reporters ahead of the three-game ODI series in South Africa starting on Friday.
“We respect that and when he is ready to discuss, we will.”
Mott said he had discussed the matter with captain Jos Buttler and the director of England men’s cricket. Key Rob and they hadn’t set a deadline for Stokes to make up his mind.
“…we have to keep a really flexible and open mind to the players and when we sit down to pick those 15 for the World Cup, we want to pick the best players possible,” he added.
Ahead of the series against South Africa, Mott says the speedster is fit again Jofra Archer was “playing foam” after nearly two years on the sidelines.
“Having watched him from afar, I think he is one of the most exciting things that has happened in cricket in the last decade,” Mott said.
“The best thing I can say is that we have a general plan of what this (Archer’s schedule) might look like.
“We’ll work with him, see how his body does. I really think he’s a priority and will be handled as well as possible.”
Stokes was named player of the match in the 2019 World Cup final when England beat New Zealand at Lord’s and was their top scorer in the T20 World Cup final in Australia Last year.
He decided to quit cricket for a day last year citing his workload, but Mott said he would be happy to discuss the situation if things changed before the World Cup in October-November.
“The door is always open for a player of this quality, but we are also very aware that his main focus is red-ball cricket as captain,” Mott told reporters ahead of the three-game ODI series in South Africa starting on Friday.
“We respect that and when he is ready to discuss, we will.”
Mott said he had discussed the matter with captain Jos Buttler and the director of England men’s cricket. Key Rob and they hadn’t set a deadline for Stokes to make up his mind.
“…we have to keep a really flexible and open mind to the players and when we sit down to pick those 15 for the World Cup, we want to pick the best players possible,” he added.
Ahead of the series against South Africa, Mott says the speedster is fit again Jofra Archer was “playing foam” after nearly two years on the sidelines.
“Having watched him from afar, I think he is one of the most exciting things that has happened in cricket in the last decade,” Mott said.
“The best thing I can say is that we have a general plan of what this (Archer’s schedule) might look like.
“We’ll work with him, see how his body does. I really think he’s a priority and will be handled as well as possible.”
