Ben Stokes The Hundred: The England all-rounder had announced his retirement from the ODI format last month in July.
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The much anticipated second edition of England’s 100-ball tournament – ‘The Hundred’ is all set to commence tomorrow with defending men’s champions Southern Braves to play the opening game against the Welsh Fire, at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
The women’s fixture will commence a week later, from August 11, as majority of the players are partaking in the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, where women’s Cricket has been introduced for the very first time.
Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has made way for a two-week window for its Test players to participate in ‘The Hundred’ for their franchises, with the three-match Test series against South Africa set to begin from August 17 onwards as well.
Ben Stokes The Hundred
However, England’s Test captain Ben Stokes, has opted out from participating in the 100-ball tournament, with ECB having confirmed the same on July 15, a few days before Stokes decided to retire from the ODI format altogether.
The development meant that the 31-year-old all-rounder will not play for the Northern Superchargers this time around, although he would have not played more than three matches due to the South Africa Test series.
For those unaware, the Durham all-rounder had represented the Superchargers in a couple of matches during The Hundred’s inaugural season last year.
Having played has last match match in England colours during England’s first ODI against South Africa in Durham a few days ago, Stokes has his eyes set on clinching the three-match Test series against the Proteas, after the team’s limited Overs side under Jos Buttler, drew and lost the ODI and T20I series recently.
Under his Test captaincy so far, Stokes has not lost a single match, while securing record wins versus New Zealand in the three-match series and then managing a draw versus India during the one-off Test at Edgbaston.
