The England Test captain, Ben Stokes, would be willing to return to the white-ball setup under their new coach, Brendon McCullum, if asked but added that there had been no conversations about him returning to the limited-overs squads.
McCullum’s appointment as head coach across all formats came after a two-year period in which England had separate coaches for the white and red-ball teams and followed Matthew Mott’s departure as limited-overs coach in July. The New Zealander will take charge of the limited-overs sides when England tour India in January.
Stokes has been a key part of the Test squad since McCullum took charge in May 2022 but has played sparingly in England white-ball sides. He retired from one-day internationals before returning for last year’s ODI World Cup and last played a Twenty20 international in the World Cup final in November 2022.
“I’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket for England and I’m very happy and content with what I’ve achieved in that form of the game,” Stokes told Sky Sports. “If I get the call to come and play, then obviously it’s definitely going to be a yes. But I’m not going to be too disappointed if I don’t – it means that I can just sit back and watch everyone else go out and smack it. Me and Baz [McCullum] have not spoken about anything like that whatsoever.”
Stokes has been sidelined since tearing his left hamstring while playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred last month. The 33-year-old said his rehabilitation was going well and that he would undergo a scan on Wednesday.
“In terms of bowling, there’s a lot more than just my hamstring that I need to get back firing – you use everything,” he added. “I need to get that all right to make sure I don’t do any more damage to any other parts of my body.”
