Okay, after having a look at Twitter and this place, I have a slightly different take on Ben Stokes' retirement.
Much is being said about how the ODI format has lost relevance. Come on no! You can't simply attribute it to the retirement of one player. Agreed that this guy was instrumental in winning plaudits for his team and also for the CWC 2019 triumph. However, his loss isn't going to bring the downfall of ODI cricket.
All it takes for ODIs to become of somewhat consequence - a couple of thrillers. We have seen the same happen in Test cricket as well. If you go 4-5 tests without a results/ one-sided result, all of you are going to start predicting the death of the format.
What many are forgetting is that the man took a mental health break from all formats recently. I am sure had he been appointed the limited overs captain, he might have given up on Test cricket. I find
@Aislabie thought process as spot on in this case.
It makes no sense to quit T20's for Stokes as it is a format that will dominate international sport, with all the franchise leagues. And also it is much shorter in duration than ODI's and also fits a big hitter like Stokes. Those who retire from T20's first before ODI's, are probably guys whose gameplay is likely not suited for the shortest format.
ODI's are definitely on the wane. If it needs relevance, bilateral should be scrapped and triangular/quadrangular tournaments should make a comeback. Same with bilateral T20's. But the best option would be to scrap ODIs and make the T20 World Cup as the showpiece event that happens once every 4 years. More countries can participate on a format like this, and cricket expands.
What you're forgetting is there's too much of T20 being played these days. I, for one, am not a big fan of watching the IPL games day in and day out on a regular basis. Stokes quitting ODIs surprises many cause not a lot of players quit the shorter formats before the longer ones. Stokes' game has been more suited to ODI and T20-am guessing the captaincy played a big part here.
I also do not agree with the ODI on the wane theory. Just cause they aren't being played at this stage wouldn't make them irrelevant. All teams are trying to put their best foot forth for the WT20 -as there's an equal chance that anyone on their day can win. The last 2 years have seen back to back WT20s and that hasn't boded well for everyone (plus Covid)
The quadrangular/ triangular tournaments makes sense. I agree to making the WT20 a 4 year event as opposed to the current 2 year one. However, scrapping the ODI is not something I'd vote for. To get more context- scrap the non-existent CT and replace it with the ICC Knockout. That's how you will engage the audience here.
Furthermore, I see 3 main concerns for the ICC here (might not be apt for this thread, but anyway)
- Test cricket is increasingly one sided and ability to expand doesn't exist.- apart from the top sides, the others cannot simply compete. The ICC ought to simply keep the marquee series and let go of the rest. To try and make it a tad contextual, bring in a Tiered system
- Regulate the cricket leagues- Too many free agents in the market. Regulation of leagues is essential. I am sure it will never go the FIFA way, however, they need to bring it reforms that help regulation
- Cricket is being marketed to all audiences as a vanilla product.- the audiences for each product are different. Purists of cricket who prefer Test matches cannot be wooed with the slam bang treatment that is is getting via Bazball. Similarly, ODI and T20 serve a different purpose and the sooner boards understand this, the better.
