Ben Stokes' retirement video: Ex-captain reacts with two worded message after ECB breaks ICC's anti-corruption rules
Ben Stokes' retirement was announced by the ECB through a video which was shot inside the dressing room during the third Test between England and New Zealand.
Former England captain Ben Stokes took the social media by storm with a cryptic post on Thursday, after reports emerged that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was accused of breaching International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption rules over his retirement announcement.
Stokes announced his retirement from international cricket on the third day of the third Test against New Zealand at home. Breaking it on social media, the official handles of the ECB posted a video of Stokes' retirement announcement to his teammates in the dressing room.
Based on a BBC report, the video footage from the dressing room didn't go well with the ICC, who contacted the ECB, alleging that they may have breached it's Players' and Match Officials' Areas (PMOA) regulations, which prohibits fixed or temporary recording equipment in dressing rooms for broadcasting purposes.
Taking to social media, Stokes shared a report, with a two-worded message that read "sack him". The post went viral quickly. It triggered a fresh debate among the supporters with a rumour whether Stokes' retirement came amid the tensions within England Cricket or was it his entirely own decision.
What did Ben Stokes say on retirement?
During his dressing room speech, Stokes' didn't delve much on the reasons for his retirement. “This is my last two days as your captain, my last two days representing England. Reasons can wait. I have had many trips to this well before, for this team, for the blokes, for people beforehand and I have got one more trip to do,” Stokes said in the video.
The timing of Stokes' retirement raised speculations. His decision to quit international cricket came during a series when the former England captain made the headlines after being dropped from the second Test against New Zealand, amid a investigation because of a night out with teammates Gus Atkinson after the first Test at Lord's.
Both Stokes and Atkinson were in a London club when an England team security official was hit by a rugby player from English club Saracens. However, following an investigation, Stokes was recalled for the third Test due to “insufficient evidence".
What does ICC's PMOA rules say?
According to ICC's anti-corruption regulations, recording in dressing rooms are prohibited, to ensure the integrity of international matches. Article 2.2.11 of the PMOA rules state that governing bodies should "ensure that there are no fixed or temporary video cameras or other recording equipment set up within any dressing room used by the teams for the purposes of broadcasting video or audio footage".
The ICC has flagged the issue to ECB. Although it is not known what steps would ICC take if ECB was found guilty, serious ramifications on either Stokes or England Cricket are not expected.