Captain Ben Stokes has announced that he decided not to play in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah to prolong his England career. Stokes had played for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL before, and was also declared the most valuable player of the tournament in 2017.
Stokes was among the prominent absentees of England players in the auction, and according to new rules if he had withdrawn after having been picked up by a franchise in the mega auction then also, for genuine reasons, would not have been allowed to play for the next two years of the tournament.
"(There is) just so much cricket. There's no hiding behind the fact that I'm at the back-end of my career. I obviously want to play as long as I possibly can. Looking after my body and looking after myself as much as I can is key to that.".
"It's about prioritizing games and when I do play – obviously I'm in South Africa this year – so it's about looking at what I've got ahead and making the decision that I think is right for me to be able to prolong my career as long as possible.". I want to wear this England shirt for as long as I can, said Stokes to BBC Sport ahead of England's Test series opener against New Zealand in Christchurch.
For the test match, England have awarded debut to left-hander Jacob Bethell, who would bat at number three. As of now, the team is at the sixth spot in the points table of the current World Test Championship and cannot aspire for a place in the final match, which would be hosted at Lord's next year.
"If you saw that pitch in England, you'd be praying to God that you won the toss and could bowl first. It's amazing in New Zealand. You can look at a wicket and it plays completely different to what it looks like. We'll have to see how we go tomorrow, see what conditions we're faced with as the game goes further, and if we need to adapt to anything we'll try to do that.".
The World Test Championship is a bit confusing. I don't look at it. Over a long period of time, if you're playing really good cricket, you're getting results that you want, you'll end up finding yourself in the final and in the mix.".
For me and this team it's about taking it game by game, series by series, and if you end up finding yourself in the position where you happen to be in the final, then it's great. I can't really ever remember if I've ever given any real time specifically to thinking about the World Test Championship," concluded Stokes.
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