Stokes questions England’s captaincy call
Ben Stokes has questioned the decision to overlook Harry Brook for the England Test captaincy following his shock decision to retire.
Stokes announced his retirement during the third Test against New Zealand at the end of June, plunging the team further into crisis. The England and Wales Cricket Board have since replaced Brendon McCullum with Stephen Fleming as Test coach, bringing an end to the Bazball era.
Rather than hand the Test captaincy to Brook, who was Stokes' vice-captain, England cricket chief Rob Key opted to re-appoint Joe Root. Root led England for 64 Tests between 2017 and 2022 and stepped down after a run of one win in 17 matches. The 35-year-old is England's all-time leading run-scorer and is seen by Key as a safer pair of hands during this transition period ahead of a three-Test series against Pakistan later in August.
Speaking to his former team-mates Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler on the For The Love Of Cricket podcast, Stokes held back from revealing all about his departure, but did question the logic of the captaincy succession.
“If you think someone is going to be a good captain or a good leader, just give it to them,” Stokes said.
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“Brooky was made vice-captain. I’m not there any more, but even when I missed that Test match, I was like, ‘he’s vice captain?’ I sort of understood the reasoning why they were saying it, but I was still like 'what message is that sending to him?' “He’s vice-captain, and the captain is not playing, but he’s not captain. And then the same again here. I had no leadership or captaincy experience when I took over. They just thought I was going to be a good captain.”
Stokes retired not long after being dropped for the second Test against New Zealand following an incident in a London nightclub. While an ECB investigation found he did nothing wrong, with Gus Atkinson being attacked by a Saracens rugby player, the duo were both breaking the team's midnight curfew.
The incident raised concerns about the team's relationship with alcohol after a shambolic Ashes tour in which headlines were made for the alleged drinking culture, and not long after Brook was fined for being punched by a bouncer in a drunken incident outside a Wellington nightclub.
Asked if the England team has a drinking problem, Stokes replied:
“No, that's such an extreme thing to put on a team. I think cricket has a drinking culture and it hasn't changed. We're in 2026 now, where the game has got more professional over the years, and the one thing that has just stayed in cricket is its relationship with alcohol.
“From club cricket and it works it way up, it's embedded in the sport. The relationship between alcohol and cricket is something that just hasn't moved on as cricket has become more professional, with sport science and medicine, nutrition.
“So, for the people who think that the English cricket team has a drinking culture, I'd say no, cricket has a culture that's associated with alcohol. I think it can be a problem... I don't know what you do to change it.
“I've had, I wouldn't say problems, but relationships with alcohol over my career that have been potentially dangerous, if that makes sense? But that's completely different to me now.”
Background to England’s captaincy reshuffle
The comments come after Joe Root set for England captaincy as Harry Brook is overlooked and England appoint Stephen Fleming as Test coach as Joe Root returns as captain, with Root now back in charge and Marcus Trescothick set to act as interim Head Coach against Pakistan.
