Even though there are talks going around that Ben Stokes might be appointed the next England test captain after the Ashes debacle, the all-rounder has himself made it very clear that he has never been ambitious to take over as an England captain and the decision to leave or continue with the captaincy should be left up to the current England captain Joe Root.
According to Ben Stokes, people often relate captaincy to a selection of playing XI, rotating the bowlers and positioning the fielders, but captaincy is not just that. Captaincy is much more than that. The players in the team should respect the captain enough to go out there and put everything on the line for the captain. Joe Root is that kind of figure in the England dressing room. Everyone including himself wants to play for Joe Root.
Root has dropped no hints yet whether he is thinking about leaving England’s test captaincy, or he will continue with it. He has simply said that thinking about his future as an England captain in the middle of the series won’t be appropriate, as there are still two Ashes tests to be played, and he has to lead the way for his players to restore some pride after conceding a 0-3 lead.
Mike Atherton also wants Ben Stokes to be put in charge of England’s test team
Most of the former players of England have already passed the verdict on Root’s captaincy and want him to resign or to be removed. Geoffrey Boycott came with some very strong words for the right hander who comes from his own county Yorkshire and it was later echoed by the former England captain Mike Atherton as well, who also suggested Ben Stokes to be put in charge and Andrew Strauss to be brought back in the England set up in some sort of management role.
Strauss had worked as England’s director of cricket for a couple of years after their debacle in the ODI World Cup 2015 and he was believed to be pivotal, alongside England’s white ball captain Eoin Morgan, in changing England’s fortunes in white ball cricket. With the same kind of reset needed in red ball cricket, Atherton thinks Strauss is the right man for the job again, alongside Ben Stokes this time.
However, ECB, in all likelihood, is going to leave the final call-up to Joe Root and if he wants to continue, he will be given a further rope.
