Ben Stokes made the decision to reverse his one-day international retirement “a week or 10 days after the Ashes”, says England white-ball captain Jos Buttler. The 32-year-old retired from ODIs last summer but has made himself available for England's World Cup defence, which gets under way in India on 5 October.
“I just left it to him to come to me if he wanted to come back,” said Buttler.
“Any time a player of his quality is available again is fantastic. We're delighted to welcome him back.”
All-rounder Stokes has been named in England's squad for the four-match one-day series against New Zealand in September, with the same 15-man party heading to the World Cup.
“It was Ben's call,” added Buttler. “You all know Ben pretty well by now – I don't think anyone talking to him would persuade him.
“We had some conversations quite a while ago about it.”
In July, before the final match of the Ashes series, which England drew 2-2 with Australia, Test captain Stokes said he remained retired from ODIs and would not be going to the World Cup.
But last weekend, in an interview with the Daily Mail, England white-ball coach Matthew Mott said that Buttler would be speaking to Stokes about a return. And Buttler revealed that Stokes had been contemplating a return for “a while” before making the decision shortly after winning the fifth and final Ashes Test of the summer.
“Ben is very much his own man, he makes his own decisions,” said Buttler.
“I've played with him for a very long time, I'm good friends with him. Me badgering him and saying ‘come back, come back' is not really the way things work with Ben.
“He very much makes up his own mind and decides. We had some conversations around it and just left it in his court. I'm sure the lure of playing in a World Cup is quite big for someone as competitive and as driven as he is to play in an England shirt.”
Stokes, who has played 105 ODIs, was player of the match in the thrilling 2019 final when England defeated New Zealand at Lord's to lift the 50-over World Cup for the first time.
He then played a starring role in the T20 World Cup final defeat of Pakistan last year as England became the first men's team to hold both limited-overs world titles simultaneously. Before opting to play at the World Cup, Stokes had planned to use a six-month break from Test cricket to address a long-standing issue with his left knee.
Now, without that gap in his schedule, he will travel to India with England intending to use him as a specialist batter.
“I don't think you need me to tell you what Ben Stokes brings to a team,” said Buttler.
“I'm very happy. I'm delighted if he feels ready to come back and any time you can welcome him back into the team is great.” England begin the defence of the World Cup in a repeat of the final from years ago against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on 5 October.
— CutC by bbc.com
