England are set for a dramatic white-ball reboot, with Ben Stokes being sounded out for a shock return to the one-day job and Harry Brook in line to take charge of the T20 team.
Last week’s resignation of Jos Buttler prompted Key to ask Stokes to consider taking on a role he has filled only once – during the Covid-hit series against Pakistan in 2021.
That would then leave Brook to build up his captaincy experience with the 20-over side, as England prepare for next year’s T20 World Cup in South Asia. The next 50-over tournament takes place in southern Africa in 2027.
And while Key is in no rush to rubberstamp the appointments, with England not playing white-ball cricket again until West Indies arrive in late May, he believes Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum can transfer their Test alchemy to a one-day team who have lost their last seven games – their worst sequence since 2006.
‘Ben is an unbelievably good tactician, which we’ve seen in Test cricket, but he’s also a leader of men,’ said Key.
‘He’s someone who gets the best out of people, and when the pressure is really on is able to throw a blanket around the players and say: this is the way forward, keep going. They’re the qualities you need in leadership.
Ben Stokes is being considered for a return to the 50-over side to take over as captain
Jos Buttler resigned as England’s white ball captain after his side’s woeful Champions Trophy campaign
Harry Brook is being considered for the T20 captaincy ahead of the 2026 World Cup in Asia
With Stokes on the road to recovery after tearing his left hamstring in New Zealand in December, and with gruelling five-Test series this year against India and Australia, Key recognises the need to manage his workload.
But he added: ‘That’s always the way in England – you start looking at what if it goes wrong? You’ve also got to think: what if it goes right? Ben has a lot of energy for a lot of things.’
Key said he thought Brook ‘would be an outstanding captain’, and played down concerns that England’s best young batsman would be overburdened.
‘I was cautious about Ben Stokes doing the Test job and having too much, and look how that’s gone,’ he said.
‘It might bring out the best in Harry Brook. The extra responsibility is sometimes the best thing that can happen.’
