Rob Key puts Ben Stokes’ name for new England ODI skipper saying it would make sense for all parties involved.
Rob Key believes England would be ‘stupid’ not to consider Ben Stokes as ODI captain.
Rob Key said it would be “stupid” not to take into account Ben Stokes as a potential replacement for Jos Buttler as England’s limited-overs captain in order to revitalise a failing white-ball setup.
Stokes would take over as ODI skipper in the move, one of several Key is exploring as men’s managing director after Buttler resigned following a disastrous Champions Trophy campaign. In such case, Harry Brook, the current vice captain, would probably be appointed to the T20I position.
Since the 2023 World Cup, which forced Stokes to change his mind about retiring from 50-over cricket during his first summer as Test captain in 2022, he has not participated in ODI cricket. Prior to having that choice taken away from him following a second hamstring tear in six months injured during the third Test match against New Zealand at the end of last year, he had left his options open for a possible Champions Trophy comeback.
Stokes is anticipated to be fully recovered to begin the summer with Durham after intensifying his recuperation in Abu Dhabi with an England Lions training group. Key, who was also in the United Arab Emirates, believes there is no reason why the 33-year-old cannot revitalise an ODI team that has lost its way, just as he has done with the Test team.
“I think nothing’s off the table really,” Key said. “You look at every single option and you think, right, what is the best thing to do? How is that going to impact on other things?
“Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen. So it would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means.
“He’s an unbelievably good tactician, which we’ve seen in Test cricket, but he’s a leader of men. He’s someone who gets the best out of people. He’s someone that, when the pressure is really on, he’s able to throw a blanket around the players and actually say, ‘no, no, this is the way forward. Keep going with it’.
“They’re the qualities that you need in leadership. Ben’s, as we know, an outstanding player, an outstanding leader. 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. But there’s always a way in England, I think, where you start looking at, ‘what if it goes wrong?’ You’ve also got to think, ‘what if it goes right?’. They’re the decisions that I have to make.”