England captain Ben Stokes hopes packed international schedule is ‘addressed’

Stokes’ Test team have a three-week break after the West Indies series before facing Sri Lanka in three matches.

Ben Stokes thinks the scheduling of cricket needs to be addressed (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)

England captain Ben Stokes believes the international cricket schedule needs to be “addressed” and would like some input on future tour programmes.

Following the final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, England will take a three-week break to cater for The Hundred tournament before they face Sri Lanka in another three-match series.

That is the most rest England internationals will receive until the end of the year as Sri Lanka’s Test series will finish on September 10, with Australia’s white-ball team kicking off their own eight-match tour just a day later at the Ageas Bowl.

England will essentially be playing non-stop cricket from there on, with the end of the Australia series followed by a Test tour to Pakistan a little over a week later before they travel to the West Indies for a white-ball series and finish the year with three Tests in New Zealand.

The tight scheduling of cricket fixtures particularly affects those who want to play in all three formats due to the short amount of time between each series.

Stokes has previously stated that the quality of the international game is harmed by the scheduling and also thinks England’s captains, who are himself and white-ball skipper Jos Buttler, should have some input into the demands being put on players.

Asked whether the schedule may affect Stokes’ options as captain, he replied: “I hope not.

“It is something that does need to get addressed. Who knows what international cricket is going to look like with the franchise stuff as well.

“It does need to get looked at, the landscape is constantly changing. I don’t think anyone can put their hand on their heart and say this is what it’s going to look like even in two years’ time, I’ve got no idea.

“With me being captain of the Test team it is quite an easy thing for me to stay pretty switched on with that and not have to worry about too much outside of that.

“Some consultation might be quite nice to Jos (Buttler) and myself. That’s where the future tour programmes can be run by people who are playing, they can be consulted and I’m sure we’ll be able to put some quite good input into that.”

Stokes retired from the ODI format in 2022 citing it as “unsustainable” due to the schedule and “what is being expected” from them before coming out of retirement before last year’s World Cup.