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Ben Stokes, the captain of England’s Test team, is in the conversation to become the new skipper of the white-ball set up alongside head coach Brendon McCullum, with whom he has worked for the last couple of years. As per Director of England men’s cricket team Rob Key, they would be “stupid” for not considering Ben Stokes as a potential white-ball captain after Jos Buttler resigned the post in the aftermath of a tough ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.
Notably, in the Champions Trophy, England failed to win any of their three Group B games, losing to Australia, South Africa, and Afghanistan in one-sided contests. With that, they exited the tournament on a sad note, following which captain Jos Buttler decided to give the leadership role, and continue playing as a wicket-keeper batter for the remainder of his international career.
Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I've ever seen: Rob Key
With that, England are in search for a new captain of the white-ball set up, and Ben Stokes, who has led the national team in Test cricket for the better part of three years, is in consideration for the role. It is important to note that the England all-rounder hasn’t played any white-ball games for the country after the group stage exit of England from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
In his recent interview, Rob Key was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “Nothing is off the table. You look at every single option and think, 'What is the best thing to do? Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I've ever seen. It would be stupid not to look at him. It's just the knock-on effect of what that means.” Moreover, Ben Stokes is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, and he has recently trained with England Lions players in Abu Dhabi, the UAE.
The decision regarding the new white-ball captain of England is due to happen sooner rather than later, and Ben Stokes taking over the reins can’t be out of the question anymore.
