Ben Stokes, who on Wednesday was ruled out of the final Test against India due to a right shoulder injury, called for better scheduling in a five-match series.
Both teams have struggled in terms of managing player injuries and workloads through the series, and the England captain did not hesitate in admitting that it takes a ‘big toll’ on each and every player.
“I guess maybe you could look back over five games in a series. Could the gaps in between games be done a little bit better? You had two eight-day and nine-day gaps between Tests and then two three-day turnarounds. Maybe you could look at making it four, five for every game maybe, just so there’s that consistency,” Stokes said on Wednesday.
“It has been tough for both teams. A lot of overs were bowled, there was a lot of time spent out on the field. That’s part of the game. D we need to have an eight-day break, a nine-day break, but then also a three-day break? You’re still going to have the same amount of days throughout the series,” he added.
England made a slew of changes ahead of the fifth Test, with Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse missing out. Talking about handling things in such long tours, Stokes said, “Physically, it is very tough because you are bowling, standing up. It is tiring, but then obviously the mental side of it as well is just as tiring. This series in particular has gone on to last sessions. So, it’s been a tough, gruelling series. It’s a real test of character, test of physicality, all that kind of stuff.”
“The way in which both teams have fronted up every single day and every single session, and given everything for their countries, is testament to how much this format means to England and India and every other team in the world…”
Stokes’ Indian counterpart Shubman Gill also agreed that playing over five days has its challenges, even though he left it to the respective boards to decide the gap between the fixtures.
“One of the most important things in the series has been that all the matches have gone up till five days. And not just five days, till the last session of the fifth day. I can’t remember a series where all four Test matches that were played went up till that last moment. So, it is definitely hard,” Gill said.
“Three days is too little of a turnaround when both the teams are playing such hard cricket. Also, we understand that if you keep giving five or six days after every match, the tour becomes very long. The decision has been taken by the boards, and we trust the decision that they take,” the Indian captain added.
