Jos Buttler's resignation has left a major void.
England had a disappointing outing in the recent Champions Trophy 2025, where they faced an early exit after losing all of their three group-stage matches. Following the shambolic campaign, England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler also decided to step down.
While Harry Brook was expected to be the frontrunner for the role, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Rob Key hinted that retired white-ball star Ben Stokes could be in contention.
Now, in a recent chat with BBC Radio 5, Key has revealed that Stokes gave him the thumbs-up.
Rob Key said, “I haven’t really spoken to him about it, to be honest. I (just) sort of said to him the other day, (after) when I did the round table (interview) with the written journalists, and said (to Stokes) ‘Oh, by the way, I have just said you are in consideration for the white-ball gig. And he sort of then puts the thumbs-up emoji and stuff like that, as if to say: ‘OK’ – not that I have offered him that, but they are the sort of conversations that we have.”
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While Ben Stokes is a reliable candidate to take over England’s captaincy reins, it has been an extended amount of time that he has played white-ball cricket. He has not donned the Three Lions outfit in white-ball since the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
England’s next assignment is in May end where they face West Indies for a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is.
Furthermore, Stokes’ workload management will be crucial. His age and ongoing injury challenges will definitely be a major concern if named white-ball skipper, given that he is currently recuperating from his second significant hamstring injury in the past nine months.
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