Last Updated on 56 seconds ago by Dom Harris
Ben Stokes is poised to play for the first time since his dramatic retirement from international cricket during England’s third Test defeat to New Zealand.
The former England captain is in line to appear for Durham at the start of their Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign which begins away to Derbyshire on July 21, in what will be his first 50-over action since the disappointing 2023 World Cup.
Stokes featured in Durham’s most recent County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire last month, whilst he missed the second England Test pending investigation, though has not played one-day cricket for his county since a player-of-the-match performance in the 2014 final.
The 35-year-old had expressed a desire to continue the next chapter with his boyhood club when speaking with Sky Sports, revealing recent time back in county cricket gave him “a new lease of life” and rekindled a love for the game which he was unable to get back upon his return to the England setup.
Added stardust to neglected competition
The One-Day Cup gets underway next week alongside the sixth edition of The Hundred, which will see a new dawn of the controversial franchise tournament following private investment.
England’s one-day competition has been increasingly marginalised since The Hundred’s inception, now reduced to a mere footnote in the domestic calendar but dressed up as a platform for peripheral squad members and young talents to shine.
Stokes’ involvement would certainly make him the most high-profile player on display and raise interest levels, particularly around some of the smaller out-ground venues that will host Durham fixtures, including home games in Gosforth and Darlington.
Durham will be hoping Stokes can help them qualify for the knockout stages for the first time since reaching the final in 2021, whilst the all-rounder is also expected to play a role in the final block of the County Championship season as Durham aim to complete an immediate return to Division One.
Given Stokes did not register for the inaugural Hundred auction earlier this year, he is ineligible for a late replacement deal but his attention may soon turn to the franchise circuit in the potential form of the SA20 this winter, where he previously pulled out of a lucrative deal with MI Cape Town through injury in 2024-25.
