Former England captain Ben Stokes has expressed surprise that Harry Brook was not handed the Test captaincy following his sudden retirement, while also voicing concern over Joe Root’s return to the role.
After Stokes stepped away from international cricket, England reappointed Root as Test captain instead of promoting Brook, who had been Stokes’ vice-captain during the Ashes tour last winter. However, Brook’s involvement in an off-field controversy in Wellington, where he was struck by a bouncer the night before a white-ball game in New Zealand in November, complicated his candidacy.
Root had earlier captained England in the second Test against New Zealand after Stokes and pacer Gus Atkinson were dropped by the ECB following a nightclub altercation with a Saracens rugby player.
Stokes had signed off from his final Test at Trent Bridge with a clear message that Brook, his vice-captain, should succeed him. He has now reiterated that view. Stokes’ concern is that Root, who previously held the captaincy from 2017 to early 2022, could once again find the role all-consuming to the detriment of his own batting. He also disagreed with the decision not to hand Brook the leadership when he missed the second Test against New Zealand for disciplinary reasons.
“I think just if you think someone’s going to be a good captain or a good leader, then just give them it,” Stokes said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, speaking alongside his former teammates Jos Buttler and Stuart Broad.
“Brooky was made vice-captain… I’m not there anymore, 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 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,” he added.
‘I care for Joe’
On Root, Stokes said: “I love Rooty and I wish him nothing but success. I hope he achieves amazing things in his role as captain. He’s going to really enjoy working with Fleming. He’s a great man, I’ve worked with him before. I told Joe, I said my only worry is just you. And that’s all I really care about now, just because I have seen what he went through and how much he put himself through for someone.”
“He’s just always put the team first like he always comes second. And that’s just my only concern with it is just obviously knowing what he went through last time he was in charge of the team because I don’t want to see that ever happen again because I care for Joe a lot, but I wish him all the success in the world,” he added.