Stokes steps out of ODI retirement for World Cup

Ben Stokes is coming out of retirement from one-day internationals to play in England's defence of the World Cup.

Stokes quit ODIs last year, saying playing in all three formats was unsustainable, though according to England's head coach, Matthew Mott, the possibility of his return had been an ongoing conversation led by skipper Jos Buttler.

The allrounder is England's Test captain and starred for the Twenty20 team in their run to the World Cup title last year in the game's shortest format. In 2019, he was the hero as England tied the World Cup final with New Zealand then were awarded the trophy for the first time, on a boundary countback.

Now he'll be looking to defend that trophy, with England selecting him Wednesday initially for the upcoming four-match one-day series against New Zealand at home in September.

The majority of that squad will make up the group for the Cricket World Cup in India starting in October.

"The return of Ben Stokes only adds to that quality with his match-winning ability and leadership," said Luke Wright, England national selector.

"I am certain that every fan will enjoy seeing him back in an England ODI shirt again.

"We're also excited to give first international call-ups to both Gus Atkinson and John Turner while Josh Tongue has deserved a place in the T20 squad after impressing during the Ashes."

Stokes played in the recently completed Ashes series despite a long-standing knee injury which prevented him from bowling as much as usual. He was reportedly looking at surgery after the Ashes but those plans have been shelved as England look to become the first one-day team to win back-to-back men's World Cups since Australia completed their threepeat in 2007.

England squads for New Zealand series

ODIs: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes

T20Is: Jos Buttler (c), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue, John Turner, Luke Wood