England white-ball captain Jos Buttler hopes that Ben Stokes ' retirement from ODI cricket will provide a "wake-up call" to the game's authorities.
Stokes played his 105th and final ODI for England at his home ground Chester-le-Street, but was denied a fairytale farewell as South Africa won the match by 62 runs. In his retirement statement, Stokes described England's current schedule as "unsustainable" and Buttler certainly seems to share his concerns with his white-ball side seven games into a run of 12 matches in just 24 days.
"It should definitely be a bit of a wake-up call," Buttler said. "Absolutely. Especially with the magnitude of the player. Ben's one of the most recognisable players in world cricket, someone everyone wants to see play in every format.
"I'm sure there's more to it than the schedules etc but I think in international cricket you always want your best players playing if possible. It's bittersweet as an England fan… there's a bit of sadness that Ben is no longer available in this form of the game.
"But our loss in ODI cricket is certainly going to be England's gain in Test cricket. That's his favoured format and his priority, especially now he's captain, and I'm sure it will give him much more longevity in the purest form of the game."
Buttler himself was a regular for England in all three formats until he was dropped from the Test team earlier this year. And when Mirror Sport asked Buttler about the challenges of being an all-format player ahead of last year's T20 World Cup and subsequent Ashes series, he admitted that the "schedule makes it a bit tougher".
"There's so much cricket and you put in an IPL tournament which you want to be in and other franchise tournaments, it's always going to be a challenge," Buttler said. "The challenge as an individual is can you be at the right level all the time with what that demands of you, physically, mentally and performance wise.
"It's a great challenge and there's not many people around the world who really do it to a great level and that shows why it's tough. You look at all the top players and that's what they're capable of doing, [performing] in every situation in every format.
"I think the schedule makes it a bit tougher and Covid has clouded that even more with quarantine periods making a tour longer. The circumstances with which you're involved in those tournaments and tours are different, so it's certainly made it harder. I think everyone's dream is always to play all the formats and be in every team you can be in."
