Harry Brook Backed to Succeed Ben Stokes as England Test Captain

England Test captain Ben Stokes has thrown his full support behind Harry Brook as his successor, saying the Yorkshire batter is the natural choice to take over the leadership role following his stint as vice-captain.

Brook, who currently captains England’s white-ball teams, was overlooked for the captaincy during the second Test at The Oval when Stokes was unavailable due to disciplinary reasons. Instead, former skipper Joe Root returned to lead the side for the first time in more than four years, although England suffered a heavy defeat.




According to ESPNcricinfo, England’s management is cautious about placing the burden of captaincy across all three formats on a single player. If Brook is appointed as Test captain, he is expected to relinquish leadership duties in at least one of the white-ball formats. Sam Curran and Jacob Bethell have emerged as potential candidates to take over in the limited-overs setup.

Stokes, however, believes Brook has all the qualities needed to lead the Test side.

“There’s a reason why he was asked to be vice-captain of this team,” Stokes said. “I know there was a lot of controversy over the last couple of weeks, and some decisions were made regarding Joe leading the team, but those weren’t decisions I was involved in.

“You don’t appoint someone as vice-captain unless you believe they have the ability to step in and captain the team when required. Harry is an incredible player, one of the senior members of this group, and someone who thrives on responsibility. If I was asked who should do the job, I’d give Harry Brook my 100 per cent support.”

Brook has built a strong working relationship with England head coach Brendon McCullum since replacing Jos Buttler as white-ball captain last year. However, McCullum indicated there is no immediate urgency to appoint Stokes’ successor.

“Those are conversations we’ll have in due course,” McCullum told Sky Sports. “We’ve got a few weeks before the next Test series, which gives us time to sit down and map out what the future looks like.

“The positive is that we have several strong leaders within the squad. Whoever takes over won’t be Ben Stokes because he’s a unique leader, but that’s part of the natural progression. No one plays forever and no one captains forever. Right now, we want to celebrate everything Ben has achieved before turning our attention to the future.”

Joe Root, who captained England for the 65th time during the Oval Test, declined to comment on whether he would be interested in returning to the role permanently.

“I’m going to enjoy celebrating Ben’s career over the next couple of days with him and his loved ones,” Root said. “Today should be about him and everything he’s done for English cricket.”

England are expected to make a decision on their next Test captain ahead of their upcoming Test series, with Brook widely regarded as the frontrunner for the position. 

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