Jos Buttler on having Ben Stokes back for ODI World Cup: ‘It’s a tough selection call…Harry Brook’s omission unfortunate’ | Cricket News

Stokes was the chief protagon of England’s 2019 World Cup win. His return to the squad ahead of the 2023 edition has caused quite the stir. (ICC/Twitter)
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Jos Buttler on having Ben Stokes back for ODI World Cup: ‘It’s a tough selection call…Harry Brook’s omission unfortunate’

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The inclusion of Ben Stokes in England’s provisional squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup has been the buzz of the cricket town. The spectrum of reactions have varied from former England Test captain Joe Root terming him as ‘the greatest cricketer England has produced’ to his former Australian counterpart Tim Paine stating that Stokes should ‘stay retired’.Flip side to Stokes’ inclusion has seen 24-year-old Harry Brook miss out on the squad, despite having made a freaky good start to his international career.Referring to the problem of many in the selection department, England skipper Jos Buttler said, “Of course, Ben Stokes coming back and being available just as a batter sort of changes the dynamic a little bit. Ben’s a fantastic player to be able to welcome back, so it’s a really tough selection. There’s still a long time before everyone is meant to get on the plane, so we’ll wait and see what happens.”

“We all know Harry’s a fantastic player and we saw what he can do the other night,” Buttler added. “It’s not like it’s a surprise: we know what a brilliant player he is, he’s just the unfortunate one to not be in that squad at the moment.

“We’re blessed with a lot of strength in depth, and talent. [There are] excellent players not in that provisional squad at the moment. It’s been the nature of England squads in the white-ball teams over the last few years really, which is a great sign for us. They’re good problems to have.”Most Read
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It was in July 2022 that England’s newly appointed Test skipper would state that it was no longer ‘sustainable’ for him to play in all three formats.

Stokes was a key member of the England side that won the 2019 World Cup at home, scoring 465 runs in the tournament including his 84* in the final against New Zealand at Lord’s.
Of all the three formats, Stokes best averages across ODIs (39) and has 2924 runs at a strike rate of 95.1 across 90 innings.

First published on: 26-08-2023 at 18:15