Ben Stokes.

[mickd1961]

Has bailed out of the test series due to “mental health issues”.

Something of a surprise given his Superman type heroics.

Call me an old cynic but is it any coincidence that that he’s competed in and picked up his massive pay checks for the IPL and other franchise cricket including the new Hundred tournament and now bows out before the tests?

If he is genuinely burned out I hope the rest does him good.

[kettering_baggie]

I think that the glut of one day ‘cricket’, especially the dreadful T20 and Hundred, is ruining Test cricket. As Mick says, the top players are making a lot of money from these *******ised forms of the game, so just maybe, they decide that they don’t want to be bothered with being tied to a game for five days. So, far from supporting Test cricket, the one day stuff could have the reverse effect. Citing mental health issues is an easy way out; it’s now a case of the love of money rather than a love of the game. Sometimes you hear players saying that the pressure is getting to them; I remember a long time ago the great Australian all-rounder, Keith Miller, scoffing at the idea of pressure on sportsmen, he was a WW2 fighter pilot, saying that pressure was having a Messerschmidt 109 up your @rse!

Pressure playing cricket? Nonsense, it’s a joy. I may be completely wrong, of course, but I suspect that Ben Stokes has decided that he just can’t be bothered with Tests and this is an easy way out while Lee his options open. Maybe I’m just too cynical.

[baggieal]

Has bailed out of the test series due to “mental health issues”.

Something of a surprise given his Superman type heroics.

Call me an old cynic but is it any coincidence that that he’s competed in and picked up his massive pay checks for the IPL and other franchise cricket including the new Hundred tournament and now bows out before the tests?

If he is genuinely burned out I hope the rest does him good.

I feel more for those with mental health issues who can’t afford to put food on the table to feed their kids. Less empathy for some loaded sportsperson who has money to burn who hogs the news headlines!

Let’s hope the person who Stokes knocked unconscious does not have mental health issues!

[Leicesterbaggie]

I think that the glut of one day ‘cricket’, especially the dreadful T20 and Hundred, is ruining Test cricket. As Mick says, the top players are making a lot of money from these *******ised forms of the game, so just maybe, they decide that they don’t want to be bothered with being tied to a game for five days. So, far from supporting Test cricket, the one day stuff could have the reverse effect. Citing mental health issues is an easy way out; it’s now a case of the love of money rather than a love of the game. Sometimes you hear players saying that the pressure is getting to them; I remember a long time ago the great Australian all-rounder, Keith Miller, scoffing at the idea of pressure on sportsmen, he was a WW2 fighter pilot, saying that pressure was having a Messerschmidt 109 up your @rse!

Pressure playing cricket? Nonsense, it’s a joy. I may be completely wrong, of course, but I suspect that Ben Stokes has decided that he just can’t be bothered with Tests and this is an easy way out while Lee his options open. Maybe I’m just too cynical.

I'm with you on this Kettering. As far as I'm concerned T20 and the Hundred are for those people who aren't that interested in cricket. It's just a night's entertainment. As you say, if 'burn out' is the problem then why play in knock about cricket like T20, and even more so, the Hundrd? Oh, I forgot, the money! If I was the EWCB I'd say that if you aren't available for Test or 50 Over cricket then you couldn't play in the other forms of the game.