World Cup lure too difficult for Ben Stokes to resist

Only the best players in the world win multiple ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups.

Think Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting from those dominant Australian sides around the turn of the century, or cast your mind back even further to the all-conquering West Indies teams of the 1970s that included Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards.

Ben Stokes already belongs in that upper echelon of all-time greats, but the star England all-rounder gets the chance to elevate his standing even further if he can somehow lift his team to a second consecutive World Cup title in India this year.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Stokes would reverse his decision to retire from one-day cricket, put his much-needed knee surgery on ice so to speak and would return to the fold in time for this year's 50-over World Cup.

Star all-rounder makes retirement U-turn as England name squad for New Zealand series

Stokes originally announced his decision to retire from ODI cricket a little more than 12 months ago on the basis that it was unsustainable for him to play all three formats.

Attempts had previously been made to try and coax Stokes out of retirement and when pressed on the matter at the completion of the recent Ashes series the England captain said going on holiday was his only immediate focus.

But England have no Test matches scheduled until the new year and that must have helped sway Stokes into making a return for next month’s ODI series against New Zealand and then the World Cup.

Such a decision would normally only raise a flicker of interest, but such is the magnitude of Stokes' pull in cricket circles these days, that it adds that extra bit of intrigue to what already shapes as the most evenly matched World Cup to date.

There's not much Stokes hasn't already achieved on the cricket field, with his 2019 World Cup trophy sitting pretty on his mantlepiece right next to the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup title he won in Australia last year.

It should be no surprise to know that Stokes was dominant in both those big tournaments.

In 2019, with the pressure of playing a World Cup on home soil, not one player managed to score more than the five half-centuries that Stokes compiled and his 465 runs at an average of 66.42 was enough to be placed ninth on the list of leading run-scorers for the tournament.

Throw in his seven wickets for the tournament at a miserly economy rate of 4.83 and some jaw-dropping efforts in the field and it's easy to see why England came out on top to win a first World Cup trophy four years ago.

If Stokes' efforts on home soil was the benchmark, then the 32-year-old may have even exceeded his own impressive effort when producing a Player of the Match performance against Pakistan in the final to help England go all the way and win a second T20 World Cup trophy in Australia last year.

While teammates Jos Buttler and Alex Hales scored the bulk of the runs for the tournament, it was Stokes that rose to the occasion on the biggest stage at a packed MCG with a mature knock when his team needed him most.

The nay-sayers will point to the fact that Stokes is yet to win an Ashes series away from home as a player or even captained a series victory and perhaps there is still time for the England all-rounder to tick both of these boxes when the biggest rivalry in cricket is renewed in Australia at the end of 2025.

But Stokes has almost single-handedly revolutionised Test cricket since taking over as England captain last year, with his 'attack at all costs' style alongside new coach Brendon McCullum that was immediately dubbed 'Bazball', helping set the tone for an exciting future for the longest format.

Perhaps this will end up being Stokes' biggest legacy of all, but for now it's all eyes on India as the lure of winning back-to-back World Cups awaits one of the best players of the modern era.