England cricket director Rob Key has revealed that Test captain Ben Stokes is being considered as a potential leader for the white-ball teams following Jos Buttler’s resignation.
Buttler stepped down after England’s disappointing Champions Trophy campaign, where they failed to progress beyond the group stage.
Key, speaking at Lord’s on Thursday, made it clear that “nothing is off the table” in the search for new leadership across formats.
Key was effusive in his praise for Stokes, describing him as “one of the best captains I’ve ever seen.”
Ben Stokes is being considered for England’s next white-ball captain
PA
“So it would be stupid not to look at him,” Key said. “It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means.”
The 33-year-old Stokes has impressed with his tactical acumen and leadership qualities in the Test arena since taking over in 2022.
“He is an unbelievably good tactician,” Key added. “But he’s also a leader of men.”
The primary concern with Stokes taking on additional captaincy duties is the potential impact on his workload.
England face a packed schedule with 11 Tests, 27 white-ball matches and a T20 World Cup in the next 12 months.
Key acknowledged this challenge, saying: “It’s more about, what would that then mean to him? What would that then mean to his workload?”
“We don’t want to risk other things as well,” he added, mindful of protecting Stokes’ Test captaincy project.
Key mentioned several other candidates are under consideration for the white-ball captaincy roles.
“We’ve had a plan in place where we’ve looked at lots of different people,” he said.
Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook have all been given leadership opportunities recently.
Jos Buttler stepped down as England’s white-ball cricket captain
PA
Key also suggested the possibility of splitting the ODI and T20 captaincy roles, noting: “I believe that Test cricket and 50-over cricket are probably closer now, with T20 the outlier.”
Key admitted England were “very poor” at the Champions Trophy, their third disappointing global white-ball tournament in succession.
“The truth is, we haven’t been particularly good in white-ball cricket, probably since the last era when Eoin Morgan did it,” he said.
Key highlighted batting as a particular concern, stating it has “fallen off a cliff” in recent years.
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He rejected claims that England don’t train enough but conceded players need to improve their media communication.
Stokes is currently recovering from hamstring surgery but appears to be making excellent progress.
Stokes has been training with England Lions players in Abu Dhabi as part of his recovery programme.
The 33-year-old previously retired from ODIs in 2022 before reversing his decision for the 2023 World Cup.