"I'm going on holiday after this game"- Ben Stokes confirms he won't be available for ODI World Cup ahead of 5th Ashes Test

England's 2019 World Cup hero Ben Stokes confirmed that he won't be available for the side's title-defense later this year in India as he has announced his retirement from the format.

Despite England's white-ball coach Matthew Mott and captain Jos Buttler hinting that the decision to reverse the retirement is up to Stokes, the all-rounder is pretty clear about taking a long break after the fifth Ashes Test to be played at The Oval from Thursday, July 27.

Here's what Ben Stokes told reporters on being asked about his ODI future:

"I'm retired. I'm going on holiday after this game and that's as far as I'm thinking."

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Ben Stokes wishes to lead England in Ashes Down Under

The next Ashes series will be played Down Under during the 2025-26 summer and while it is still more than a couple of years away, Ben Stokes is hopeful that he gets his knee issue sorted and is leading the England team at that point.

Stokes has been troubled with chronic tendonitis in his knee and that has hampered his ability to bowl. He is hopeful that he will be able to lead England in the next Ashes and stated:

“I mean obviously how this series has gone and how close we were it does make you think when we go to Australia do we have a better chance than the last few times we’ve been there. Hopefully, it’d be nice to go out to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning. It would be nice to say I’ve won it twice. There’s obviously a lot of cricket that’s played around the Ashes as well, but we’ll just see when 2025 comes around.”

Stokes' next international assignment is likely to be the five Tests against India and he would have a decent amount of time to solve his knee issue.

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