England men鈥檚 cricketer Ben Stokes has confirmed today that he does not wish to be considered for selection ahead of this summer鈥檚 ICC Men鈥檚 T20 World Cup, which will take place in June in the West Indies and USA.
The England Test captain鈥檚 primary focus is to get fully fit to bowl not only for the summer of Test cricket, which includes two three-match Test series鈥� against West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively, but for all cricket in the future.聽
Commenting on his decision, Stokes said:
鈥淚鈥檓 working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket.
鈥淥pting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.
鈥淭he recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I鈥檓 looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer.
鈥淚 wish Jos, Motty and all the team the best of luck in defending our title.鈥�
England鈥檚 ICC Men鈥檚 T20 World Cup defence starts on 4 June against Scotland at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. They will then play group matches against Australia, Oman, and Namibia in Barbados and Antigua before qualification for the Super 8s and knockouts.