'The demands of the sport in this day and age compared to what it was 15, 20 years ago, is a lot higher' - Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes believes that the younger generation of sports stars are more athletic - because of the demands placed on them.
Sport is always evolving and cricket has more than most, with traditional formats like Test matches and domestic championships now rubbing shoulders with multiple formats of limited-overs cricket.
The advent of T20 - both domestically and internationally - and even shorter formats like T10 has resulted in a congested calendar and increasing pressure on players to be in peak condition in order to thrive.
According to Stokes, that naturally means that the new generation of players have raised standards of athleticism.
"The demands of the sport in this day and age compared to what it was 15, 20 years ago, is a lot higher," said the England captain.
"So I think just naturally the progression that you've seen is that the guys are just more athletic.
"I'm not saying that players were any less skilful before, or more skilful now.
"I think it's just that natural progression of the sport, and it's because there's so many more matches to play.
"The younger generation, especially now, they're just brought up on this. So, you know, just they're just more athletic I think."
Ben was speaking to Jason Roy, Matty Potts and JCC at Delta Hotels by Marriott Worsley Park Country Club. Watch the video to catch more of their conversation.
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