England’s Test captain Ben Stokes is being thought-about as a possible alternative for Jos Buttler because the limited-overs skipper with ECB’s director of males’s cricket, Rob Key emphasising that it will be “stupid” to not discover the choice, given his management qualities and the necessity to revive England’s struggling white-ball setup.
Stokes, 33, has not performed ODIs because the 2023 World Cup, the place he reversed his preliminary determination to retire from the format.
His Champions Trophy return was marred by a second hamstring tear in six months, sustained in the course of the third Test in opposition to New Zealand.
“I think nothing’s off the table really,” Key was quoted saying in ESPNCricinfo. “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 among the greatest captains I’ve ever seen. So it will be silly not to take a look at him. It’s simply the knock-on impact of what which 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’.” Stokes is at the moment in Abu Dhabi recovering with an England Lions coaching group and is anticipated to be absolutely match for the summer time with Durham.
Key, who was additionally within the UAE, believes Stokes has the power to rejuvenate the ODI group, simply as he did with the Test facet.
“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 do not need to danger different issues as properly. But there’s all the time a manner in England, I feel, the place you begin taking a look at, ‘what if it goes improper?’ You’ve additionally obtained to suppose, ‘what if it goes proper?’. They’re the selections that I’ve to make.” Stokes’ rapport with Brendon McCullum, now overseeing England’s entire setup, may add weight to the idea.
After taking charge of the white-ball set up McCullum lost 10 of 11 matches, in sharp contrast to his Test transformation.
Under their leadership, England have won 22 out of 35 Tests since 2022.
Citing example of Team India model, Key believes Tests and ODIs share a strategic similarity that would work for Stokes.
“When you begin taking a look at it, I consider that Test cricket and 50-over cricket are in all probability nearer than T20s, which is the outlier now. So then that makes various things.
“We look at India and the way they play T20 cricket, and they’ve got all these young players coming through, but it’s their Test players that are making the difference in 50-over cricket.” But it stays to be seen how injury-prone Stokes manages the demanding schedule.
England face India and Australia in essential Test collection this 12 months, and would play ODI collection in opposition to West Indies (May into June), South Africa, Ireland (each in September) and New Zealand (forward of the Ashes).
Published – March 07, 2025 11:24 am IST
