'Boards are desparate' - Michael Vaughan blames franchise-based tournaments as Ben Stokes announces ODI retirement

England all-rounder Ben Stokes’ announcement, on Monday, of retiring from the ODI format came as a shock to many as the 31-year-old revealed that playing all three formats is ‘unsustainable’ for him. Reacting to his decision, former England skipper Michael Vaughan blamed the franchise cricket tournaments as the reason behind the players calling it quits early from a particular international format.

Ben Stokes was one of the key members behind England’s 2019 World Cup triumph and was even named the Player of the Match in the all-important final against New Zealand. Over the course of 11 years, Stokes has represented England in 104 ODIs and he will be playing his 105th and final game against South Africa in Durham on Tuesday, July 19 which is also the first of the three-match series.

Players shouldn’t retire from one format aged 31: Michael Vaughan

Vaughan took to Twitter to share his opinion on the matter highlighting how desperate cricket boards are to have their own franchise competitions. He felt that bilateral ODI and T20I cricket will end if the situation remains this way. “Bilateral ODI / T20 series will have to go if all the boards around the world are desperate for their own Franchise tournaments!! Something has to give. It shouldn’t be players retiring from one format aged 31!!!!” Vaughan wrote on Twitter.

Looking at the number of punctuations Vaughan used in the end, it was clear that he was very disappointed with the all-rounder’s decision. Ben Stokes, while announcing his retirement mentioned that he does not want to be in a situation where he knows he won’t be able to give his 100 percent to the game, and thus felt like making way for someone more deserving.

“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos (Buttler) and the rest of the team their all,” Stokes wrote in his message while announcing the news.

Ben Stokes will continue playing Tests and T20Is

Ben Stokes, who was recently named the captain of the Test team after Joe Root stepped down, has been doing well in Test cricket and will continue his association with the team. Furthermore, he will also be seen donning the red jersey while representing the team in the T20I format.