England have been in dire form off late, particularly in white ball cricket. England have lost their last seven ODIs in a row, getting dumped out of the Champions Trophy 2025 in the group stage. With Jos Buttler having resigned as captain following the tournament, England are on the hunt for a new leader. Test captain Ben Stokes – who last played an ODI in November 2023 – has been considered an option. However, former pacer Stuart Broad has stated that making him captain would be a poor move.
“Going for Stokes would be a move of desperation. I would be lost for words if England appointed him,” Broad wrote in his column for British outlet Daily Mail.
Stokes has been at the helm of a refreshed, if not always successful, approach in Test cricket in recent years under head coach Brendon McCullum. With the latter being made white-ball head coach as well, Stokes has found himself as a favourite for captaincy.
However, Broad stated that the move made no sense considering the workload management needed for Stokes.
“Firstly, there is the schedule. He’s not going to the Indian Premier League to try to prioritise the Test match team and get his physicality right for the big events on the horizon,” Broad wrote.
“How many overs has Stokes bowled successfully in the last three years while battling his knee injuries? Not many. And you’re going to add another eight to 10 overs in a 50-over format onto his workload? The mathematics of that make no sense,” Broad added.
“As someone who played 121 one-day internationals I can honestly say I found the 50-over format more tiring than Test match cricket,” Broad explained.
Broad called Stokes the “best captain” that England have got, but raised questions regarding the priorities in English cricket.
“The hierarchy are not bothered by 50-over cricket. We have no structure to be able to train our players to play it, so why would you risk Ben Stokes’ body to captain something like that?” Broad wrote further.
Another man who is also in contention to become England’s white-ball captain is batter Harry Brook. The 26-year-old recently pulled out of the IPL 2025, citing his commitment to England cricket.
Brook, who was part of Delhi Capitals, is set to face a two-year ban, with the BCCI introducing the rule for any player who withdrew from IPL after getting picked in the auction, without any medical reason.
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