England Test captain Ben Stokes believes the quality of international cricket has been damaged by the sport's packed schedule.
Stokes, who led his country to a historic 3-0 series win over Pakistan last week, retired from one-day internationals earlier this year, stating it was "unsustainable" for him to play in all three formats of the game.
And the 31-year-old thinks the intense schedule needs to be addressed to give players the best chance of performing at their highest level.
"It really has an impact on the multi-format players and people who want to play all three forms," he told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four.
"Obviously you want international cricket to be at the highest standard whenever you possibly can but over the last few years I think you've seen a lot of different squads being picked, a lot of different players coming in, coming out, being rested.
"And I don't think that's the way for international cricket to go. The scheduling and everything like that I think just doesn't get as much attention given to it as it should."
Stokes took a six-month break from the sport last year to prioritise his mental health – a decision he looks back on with pride.
"I felt I needed to obviously take a break, and I felt I needed some help to get me back to where I am today, and to get me back on the field from after I took the break," he added.
"I didn't ever really have an issue with coming out and expressing my feelings and opening up about it, because obviously I went into detail a lot in my documentary that I did about my break and how I was feeling, and the steps I took to get me back to a certain place.
"Out of all of that I can't tell you how much pride that I felt in myself in doing that, and some of the messages I received from people I don't know who have never met me.
"But that's why I took huge pride out of it, putting myself in the public eye, and that it's actually really helped a lot of people.
"I feel as if men in particular, because that's where the stigma is, the more men that can do it, great, because I feel if you do, you're going to help a lot more people around the world who are in a similar situation to you."
Windies Academy in complete control of second four-day match against Emerging Ireland
In what seems to be a dominant display, the West Indies Academy is on track for a second consecutive victory against Emerging Ireland in the four-day match at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Following the action on the second day, the West Indies Academy appears poised for success, holding a substantial lead over their opponents.
The West Indies Academy resumed their innings on Saturday from an overnight score of 300-8, eventually concluding at 326 all out. The momentum continued as their bowlers took center stage, dismantling Emerging Ireland for a mere 72 runs in 26.4 overs. Opting not to enforce the follow-on, the West Indies were 172-4 at stumps, establishing an overall lead of 426 runs heading into the third day.
Emerging Ireland faced a daunting challenge after bowling out the West Indies Academy for a competitive 326. With little resistance, only two batters managed to reach double figures. Cabe Carmichael emerged as the top scorer with 39, while Tom Hayes contributed 12. The home team's bowlers, led by Joshua Bishop with 4-18 from 6.4 overs, made swift work of the tourists' lineup. Isai Thorne displayed equal prowess with 3-15 from seven overs, and Nyeem Young, following his impressive 80 with the bat, claimed 2-7 from six overs. McKenny Clarke also made his presence felt with 1-16 from four overs.
With a commanding lead of 254 runs, the West Indies Academy continued their dominance with a solid batting performance, reaching 172-4 off 45 overs. Akeem Auguste played a significant role with a score of 75 and Teddy Bishop, 45, led the scoring for the West Indies Academy. As they aim for an all-out victory, the team is in a formidable position heading into Monday's play.
Tom Hayes stood out as the best of the Irish bowlers, claiming 2-23 from the 12 overs he bowled on Sunday. Barring a miraculous turnaround, the West Indies Academy appears well-poised to secure another convincing win in the ongoing four-day contest.
England captaincy honour ‘out of the blue’ to face South Africa – Fran Williams
Fran Williams admitted being asked to be captain of the England team for their upcoming series against South Africa came “a bit out of the blue” as preparations continued for the opening game on Tuesday.
The Loughborough Lightning player will lead the Vitality Roses in their tri-series against the SPAR Proteas, which begins on December 5 in Manchester followed by two games on December 9 and 10 in Nottingham.
Working in a wider leadership group alongside Eleanor Cardwell and Imogen Allison, Williams will lead the team for the first time and revealed that while receiving the captaincy was unexpected, she was looking forward to the opportunity.
“(It was) a bit out of the blue, I was having a catch-up meeting with Jess (Thirlby) our head coach about something completely separate and not relevant to leadership roles and captaincy,” Williams told the PA news agency.
“Then at the end of the meeting she asked if I’d want to be captain, if I’d take on that honour and I said ‘I don’t have to think about it, I’d love to do that opportunity’.
“Then I walked away and thought ‘gosh that’s actually a big deal, maybe I should have thought about this a bit more!’.
“There’s nothing better than being able to represent the team and it’s just such an easy role to take on when you’ve got a group and a squad like we have who are so willing to get stuck in, always seeing the positives, want to jump on board and get involved in as much as possible.”
December’s fixtures will be England’s first games back on home turf since winning silver at the Netball World Cup over the summer, where they fell to a 61-45 defeat against Australia in the final.
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Williams played a pivotal part in the tournament, providing a vital interception in the dying minutes of their semi-final against reigning champions New Zealand and reflected on a “history-making moment” reaching the final.
“I think at the time and in that moment of the final it was obviously devastating,” Williams said.
“To lose against Australia particularly when – bearing in mind it was a tight game – we’d beaten them only a few days before.
“However, when I look back now, I have nothing but pride for the way we performed this summer as a Roses squad. Not just players but all the staff and the journey we’d been on to reaching that historic final and getting our first-ever silver medal at a Netball World Cup, it was still a history-making moment.
“Not just the final result but also the memories I have with that team. Not just in the prep camp before, but the years before leading to us being able to do that is what I’ll take away from the experience the most.
“It’s so exciting to see where we could end up in four years’ time. Now I’ve got that springboard and motivation from being that close in the summer to really want to go for it those next four years.”
There are plenty of new faces in the Roses squad for the South Africa series with five players preparing to make their home international debuts and Williams was looking forward to the “new opportunities ahead”.
She added: “We’ve got a fresh-looking squad, new opportunities lying ahead and whilst it’s so important we carry those stories and lessons learned from the summer and make sure we’re all on the same page and everyone – even if you weren’t there – gets to learn from what worked well in the summer to get to that point and what we could do better to get us over the line in that final in four years’ time.
“There’s also the opportunity to create our own memories and our own history with a new squad.”
On this day in 2019: Bob Willis dies at age of 70
Former England captain and cricket pundit Bob Willis died on December 4, 2019 at the age of 70.
The pace bowler, who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer three years previously, played 90 Tests for England and had been a popular figure in broadcasting following his retirement in 1984.
Willis’ family said in a statement: “We are heartbroken to lose our beloved Bob, who was an incredible husband, father, brother and grandfather. He made a huge impact on everybody he knew and we will miss him terribly.”
Willis’ most famous moment as a player came in the 1981 Ashes series as his eight for 43 fired England to a remarkable win in the third Test at Headingley.
He is England’s fourth highest Test wicket-taker of all time with 325 wickets.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement that cricket had lost “a dear friend”.
“The ECB is deeply saddened to say farewell to Bob Willis, a legend of English cricket,” the statement read.
“He will always be remembered for his outstanding cricket career. In later years as a broadcaster Bob was a perceptive and respected voice at the microphone. We are forever thankful for everything he has done for the game.
“Everyone at the ECB sends sincere condolences to his family. Cricket has lost a dear friend.”
Willis’ former team-mate Paul Allott told Sky Sports News: “I was there when Bob passed away with Lauren, his wife, and daughter in Wimbledon. It was a peaceful passing but it was obviously a hugely emotional moment.
“We’ve known each other for more than 40 years. Beneath that quite stern exterior that he portrayed on Sky Sports there was a heart of gold.
“He was an extremely kind and gentle individual and we became the very best of friends.”
The Bob Willis Trophy was contested in 2020 and 2021 in his honour and is now presented to England’s player of the year at the Cricket Writers’ Club awards.
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