Ben Stokes has publicly endorsed Harry Brook to succeed him as England's Test captain, throwing his full support behind the 27-year-old Yorkshire batsman. Brook, who currently serves as England's white-ball captain, was Stokes' vice-captain during the recent Test series against New Zealand, which England lost 2-1 on Monday. However, Brook was overlooked for the second Test when Stokes was omitted for disciplinary reasons, with former captain Joe Root taking the reins instead.
Stokes’ full backing for Brook
“There is a reason why he was asked to be vice-captain of this team,” Stokes said. “I was vice-captain under Joe for a long time. It’s a natural progression. There’s absolutely no reason why Harry shouldn’t be asked to do that. He’s someone that is an incredible player, one of the more senior players in this group, a phenomenally talented player. With a bit more responsibility on his shoulders, you don’t know if that’s going to improve him even more. If I was to be asked who should do it I would throw my 100% support behind Harry Brook.”
McCullum cautious on successor
England coach Brendon McCullum, who has reiterated his desire to continue in his role despite the team losing seven of their last nine Tests, stopped short of endorsing Brook. “It’s one of those things where we just need to take a bit of time to work out. We’ve got some good candidates and strong leaders in the side so we’ll work through that and come up with what we think is the right option,” he said.
Brook’s talent and disciplinary issues
Brook, currently ranked number two in the world Test batting rankings, is an automatic selection in the side but has faced criticism for indiscipline both on and off the pitch. Last winter, he received a reprimand from the Cricket Regulator after an incident in New Zealand where he was struck by a bouncer after being refused entry to a nightclub the night before a one-day international.
Stokes’ decision to step down
McCullum admitted he had tried to talk Stokes out of his mid-match decision to step down at Trent Bridge. “When he grabbed me yesterday morning when we arrived at the ground and said: ‘Baz, I’m done’, I said ‘slow down, you don’t need to make any rash decisions now, let’s just talk this through’,” said McCullum. “But he said: ‘Honestly, I’m done. I’m content. I’m happy. I’ve done what I wanted to do with this team and now is the right time’.”
