“Begins with S ends with E and has chedul in there as well”, Ben Stokes posts a cryptic remark answering the question regarding England’s suffering in the ODI format off late

On Friday, England lost the first one-day international (ODI) of the current three-match series against South Africa by a score of 27 runs, continuing their ODI troubles (January 27). After winning the T20 World Cup, they promptly lost to Australia 0-3 in ODIs, making this their fourth consecutive defeat. The ODI World Cup in 2023 is rapidly approaching, and the reigning champions need to resolve their “problems” before then.

Wisden questioned in their most recent Tweet on Saturday what the main problem is for England in one-day internationals after their dismal defeat to South Africa in the first ODI in Bloemfontein. Ben Stokes, captain of England‘s red-ball team, responded to the Tweet with a cryptic remark.

He wrote, “Begins with S ends with E and has chedul in there as well.”

Begins with S ends with E and has chedul in there as well https://t.co/U2aF9FOSDw

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) January 27, 2023

At the height of his career, Stokes declared his withdrawal from one-day internationals in favour of Test and Twenty20 Internationals. Stokes saved the 2019 World Cup for England with a Player of the Match effort against New Zealand.

Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Liam Livingstone are not with the English team in South Africa. Debuting in the first ODI on Friday, Harry Brook was unable to replicate his stellar performance in Tests in ODIs.

England’s current white-ball captain Jos Buttler has also said he would be OK with Stokes returning to one-day internationals. Buttler made his comments earlier this week.

“If he wants to change his decision, of course, he’d be welcomed back with open arms but we are very much at the moment planning as if he won’t be available,” Buttler said while addressing the media ahead of the first ODI against the Proteas.