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England all-rounder Ben Stokes admitted on Thursday, September 14, that he knew he'd come out of ODI retirement and play the ongoing series against New Zealand during the 2023 Ashes series. He said he kept it a secret to put the media "off the radar".
When reporters asked the England Test captain about a possible return for the 2023 World Cup during that series in July, he simply stated that he was retired with a straight face. He also said he wanted to use the time after the Ashes to manage his knee injury as the long-time issue made it difficult for him to continue bowling.
Now, after scoring a record-breaking 182 (124) in the third ODI since his return at the Oval, he said:
"Obviously I've been asked a lot about my knee over a long period of time, so I just said that to leave it. I knew that I'd be playing in these games and potentially in the World Cup then when I said that, but it was just the easiest thing to say that and put you [the media] off the radar."
He also said the clarity that he doesn't have to bowl anymore helped him.
Stokes's century was the record-highest individual score for an English player. He played as a specialist batter at No. 4 and hit 15 fours and nine sixes in the innings. The knock came batting first in the third ODI against New Zealand. England put up 368 in the first innings and eventually won by 181 runs.
Ben Stokes needed to get familiar with 50-over cricket again
Ben Stokes also spoke about how it took him some time to get familiar with the format and the time it had for batters again. He said:
"Today was good for me personally, just to get familiarity again with how 50-over cricket goes. We started off and lost a few quick wickets, then wanted to go out and put them under a bit of pressure. There were a couple of times I had to check myself because I looked up and there were still 23-24 overs left - that's how one-day cricket can go."
England and New Zealand will play the fourth and final ODI on September 15. The English are currently leading the series 2-1.
