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Stokes Rules Himself Out of England's T20 World Cup Title Defense

FILE - England’s captain Ben Stokes prepares to bowl on the second day of the fifth and final test match between England and India in Dharamshala, India, Friday, March 8, 2024. Stokes ruled himself out of England’s defense of the Twenty20 World Cup title in June. Stokes made himself unavailable on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, hoping it will “be a sacrifice that allows me to be the allrounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.”(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)
FILE - England’s captain Ben Stokes prepares to bowl on the second day of the fifth and final test match between England and India in Dharamshala, India, Friday, March 8, 2024. Stokes ruled himself out of England’s defense of the Twenty20 World Cup title in June. Stokes made himself unavailable on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, hoping it will “be a sacrifice that allows me to be the allrounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.”(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)
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Stokes Rules Himself Out of England's T20 World Cup Title Defense

FILE - England’s captain Ben Stokes prepares to bowl on the second day of the fifth and final test match between England and India in Dharamshala, India, Friday, March 8, 2024. Stokes ruled himself out of England’s defense of the Twenty20 World Cup title in June. Stokes made himself unavailable on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, hoping it will “be a sacrifice that allows me to be the allrounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.”(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)
FILE - England’s captain Ben Stokes prepares to bowl on the second day of the fifth and final test match between England and India in Dharamshala, India, Friday, March 8, 2024. Stokes ruled himself out of England’s defense of the Twenty20 World Cup title in June. Stokes made himself unavailable on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, hoping it will “be a sacrifice that allows me to be the allrounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.”(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)

Test captain Ben Stokes has ruled himself out of England's T20 World Cup title defense, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Tuesday.

The 32-year-old said he was skipping the tournament in the United States and the West Indies to make sure he could be a fully-fledged all-rounder in Test cricket.

"Opting out of the IPL (Indian Premier League) and the (T20) World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future," Stokes said in an ECB statement.

Stokes's withdrawal was something of a surprise given that, when asked last month if he would participate in the T20 World Cup in June, he said he had "not even thought about that but I'm available".

It is understood Stokes has not suffered any setbacks after briefly returning to bowling last month during a Test tour of India where England lost a five-match series 4-1.

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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.