Stokes: 'We're not cars' | Schedule asks 'too much of players'

Ben Stokes says his ODI retirement was triggered by an "unsustainable" cricketing schedule, saying the calendar is currently too packed for players to feature in all formats.

England Test captain Stokes quit the international 50-over game on Monday, with Tuesday's series opener against South Africa at his home ground in Durham his final match in the format.

The 31-year-old told Sky Sports Cricket he has taken the decision to step away from ODIs in order to prolong his career in the Test and T20 international formats.

Stokes has led England to four Test victories in a row since succeeding Joe Root as red-ball captain in April, while he is set to play a big role for his country in the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket's Nasser Hussain, the all-rounder said: "I think the schedule and everything that is expected of us these days, for me personally at the moment, it feels unsustainable.

"We're not cars where you can just fill us up with petrol or diesel and then let us go. It does have this effect on you, the amount of playing and travelling we do - it all adds up.

"The schedule at the moment is all very jam-packed. It's asking a lot of the players to keep putting in 100 per cent of their efforts every time they walk out on the field for their country.

"If you want the best product out there, you obviously want the best players on the field [but] teams are now looking at their squads and saying, 'where can we give players a break?'

"If teams and organisations feel their best players need a break because they need to look after them for one format, I don't think it looks good.

"I also look at the fact that we were playing a Test match and our white-ball team were playing a one-day