‘Bilateral Series Will Have To Go’: Michael Vaughan After Ben Stokes’ Early ODI Retirement | Cricket News

Ben Stokes concludes his ODI career with England’s first ODI of the three-match series against South Africa on Tuesday that is being played at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. The all-rounder, who is 31 years old, shocked the world with his sudden and early retirement from the format. While the cricket fraternity congratulated Stokes for his ODI career in which he played over 100 games and scored close to 3000 runs besides picking over 70 wickets, many highlighted that the player still had a lot of cricket left in him for the format.

Unhappy over Stokes’ early retirement from the format, former England captain Michael Vaughan pointed out that both bilateral series and franchise cricket cannot go hand in hand.

“Bi lateral ODI / T20 series will have to go if all the boards around the world are desperate for there own Franchise tournaments !! Something has to give .. It shouldn’t be players retiring from one format aged 31 !!!!” said Vaughan in a tweet on Monday.

Bi lateral ODI / T20 series will have to go if all the boards around the world are desperate for there own Franchise tournaments !! Something has to give .. It shouldn’t be players retiring from one format aged 31 !!!!

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 18, 2022

While announcing his retirement on Monday, Stokes said that playing in all the three formats was getting “unsustainable” for him. He added that he came to the decision to focus on Test and T20 cricket and that his absence will give other players a chance to play in his position in the ODI format.

“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos (Buttler) and the rest of the team their all,” read a part of Stokes’ statement.