England white-ball coach Matthew Mott revealed that the white-ball skipper Jos Buttler will talk to the Test skipper Ben Stokes about his willingness to reconsider his ODI retirement to check on his availability for the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. The English all-rounder announced a shocking retirement from the 50-over format in July 2022.
Ben Stokes has established himself as one of the modern-day greats of the game and has been a revelation for the nation since the 2019 World Cup for England and took over the Test captaincy for Joe Root and also played a huge role in England’s T20 World Cup title win and contributes to the team’s success with both bat and ball.
Speaking to the Mail Sport, Matthew Mott said that Jos Buttler will communicate with Ben Stokes regarding the management’s plans for the World Cup and the team is hopeful of having the all-rounder for the mega event in India and the management is fine with playing him as a pure batter in the team.
“Jos will probably lead the way on that communication, but Ben’s pretty straight with all of us. We will see if he’s keen. There has not been a clear direction on what he’s going to do yet, but we are still hopeful. I’ve always said his bowling would be a bonus, but just look at what he brings with the bat, even in the field,” Matthew Mott said.
England will be visiting India to defend their trophy of the World Cup later this year in India. English side clinched their first-ever ICC Cricket World Cup trophy by the finest of margins against New Zealand on their home soil in 2019 in the most dramatic final in World Cup history.
Ben Stokes Is An Invaluable Commodity – Matthew Mott
Matthew Mott hailed the England test skipper Ben Stokes for his brilliant series throughout the Ashes series and feels that he will be an invaluable commodity for the England team in the 50-over format of the game.
“Watching him throughout the whole Ashes series, he had such a great presence. He’s done it for years when it comes to performing in one-day cricket and so he’s an invaluable commodity,” Matthew Mott added.
England has transitioned into a formidable side following their poor run in the 2015 World Cup as they brought in a lot of firepower in the batting and bowling department. They will face huge challenges to defend themselves in sub-continental conditions but the addition of Ben Stokes would turn things around for the team in the marquee event later this year.