England v New Zealand: Why captain Jos Buttler believes Ben Stokes' return to ODI fold is perfect timing

ENGLAND limited-overs captain Jos Buttler hailed “superstar” Ben Stokes following his decision to come out of ODI retirement.
By David Charlesworth, PA
Published 29th Aug 2023, 16:45 BST

The England Test captain had originally called time on his 50-over career last summer amid concerns surrounding workload and a knee problem.

However, Stokes announced his intention to play ODI cricket again earlier this month and has subsequently been named in the squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand with the World Cup in India looming in October.

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England play the Black Caps in four T20s first before the same amount of ODIs, which begin in Cardiff next month.

READY FOR ACTION: England's Jonny Bairstow (right) and Harry Brook (centre) during a nets session at the Riverside Stadium. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PAREADY FOR ACTION: England's Jonny Bairstow (right) and Harry Brook (centre) during a nets session at the Riverside Stadium. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA
READY FOR ACTION: England's Jonny Bairstow (right) and Harry Brook (centre) during a nets session at the Riverside Stadium. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA

Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid and Jonny Bairstow are all in the England T20 squad.

Brook is the only one of those four to have been left out of the ODI squad ahead of the World Cup, with Joe Root joining his three county team-mates for the 50-over series.

Buttler, meanwhile, admitted he was “delighted” to have Stokes back in the fold.

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“It’s excellent news on all fronts, it’s great for cricket to have a superstar like Ben Stokes in a World Cup,” said Buttler. “You want to see those players in those major showpiece events so it’s fantastic he’s made himself available.

RELAXED: England's Jos Buttler (left) and Adil Rashid (centre) during Tuesday's nets session at the Riverside. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PARELAXED: England's Jos Buttler (left) and Adil Rashid (centre) during Tuesday's nets session at the Riverside. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA
RELAXED: England's Jos Buttler (left) and Adil Rashid (centre) during Tuesday's nets session at the Riverside. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA

“When a player of that calibre is available again it’s a no-brainer. You look at the impact he has in every game he plays really, but especially in the last couple of World Cups, he’s the man in the middle with the crucial moment.”

Stokes played a pivotal role in England winning the 50-over World Cup in 2019, scoring an unbeaten 84 in the final against New Zealand before starring in the Super Over alongside Buttler.

He will be returning to the ODI squad as a specialist batter, with Buttler adding: “Ben and I caught up during the IPL, had some good conversations about what he wanted to achieve in the year, so him coming to me and saying that the Ashes is his main priority, but if he could come through that physically he’d like to be considered for the World Cup.

“We spoke after that, he said he’d be available as a batter and that was enough for me to just say brilliant ‘can’t wait to have you back’.”

Related topics:EnglandBen StokesJoe RootNew Zealand