Brendon McCullum on Ben Stokes' ODI retirement: 'I see it as an absolute positive'

England's red-ball head coach Brendon McCullum regards English all-rounder Ben Stokes' swift conclusion to retire from the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) as an "absolute positive". However, he is unsure if other players could follow this trend, given the demanding international cricket schedule. On Monday, the 2019 ICC World Cup final hero made a surprise call to retire from the 50-over format, stating that playing three forms is "unsustainable" for him.

Talking to SENZ Breakfast, McCullum said, "Yeah, of course, I am [happy with Stokes' decision to retire from ODIs]. There are not too many all-format players. He's probably in a luxurious position that he's able to do that, but with the demands of the schedules and his heightened schedule as Test captain, it would've become too much."

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"He [Stokes] also has a young family, and a lot is going on. I don't know if it's symbolic of where the game is at around the globe, but I see it as an absolute positive, to be honest. I'm looking forward to being able to spend even more time with 'Stokesy' trying to get this thing cracking," added McCullum.

McCullum considers Stokes' ODI retirement different, given that he is just 31 years old, as he says, "Obviously, we would've loved to see Ben Stokes playing in three forms of the game, he's an out and out superstar, and we've seen what he's been able to achieve. But, sometimes, things have to give way, and I see it as a positive that he will have the time to immerse himself in the Test side."

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Stokes' slammed an unbeaten 84 in the CWC 2019 final against New Zealand to help the match get into a Super Over at Lord's in London, where the hosts clinched their maiden title in the most dramatic circumstances. He was also adjudged the Man of the Match for his splendid performance, allowing England to bounce back in style.

"Stokes is the skipper of our Test side, and the job that I've seen him do with this team in a brief period excites me about what he can do with this side, particularly now that he'll have more available time rather than jumping from series to series to series. I guess England's a slightly different set-up to most other world cricket teams because they play a lot of cricket. They're a wanted commodity around the world. They're able to generate such a fan following and the financial returns that the game requires to support 16 Counties and the big English cricket organisation," continued McCullum.

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Stokes became the Test skipper a couple of months back, taking over the reins from Joe Root and has been sensational, winning all four Tests as the captain so far. "I also think it's a real mark of respect of the man that he's bucking the trend of the short version of the game and trying to focus on what he sees as a huge task trying to get Test cricket back to the levels, or even exceed the levels, that it's had in the past. I think it's a noble play from him," McCullum concluded.