England considering Ben Stokes for white ball captaincy

England's Test captain Ben Stokes may replace Jos Buttler as limited-overs skipper, with leadership qualities praised by Rob Key.

England's Test captain Ben Stokes is being considered as a potential replacement for Jos Buttler as the limited-overs skipper with ECB’s director of men’s cricket, Rob Key emphasising that it would be "stupid" not to explore the option, given his leadership qualities and the need to revive England’s struggling white-ball setup.

Stokes, 33, has not played ODIs since the 2023 World Cup, where he reversed his initial decision to retire from the format.

His Champions Trophy return was marred by a second hamstring tear in six months, sustained during the third Test against New Zealand.

"I think nothing's off the table really," Key was quoted saying in ESPNCricinfo. "You look at every single option and you think, right, what is the best thing to do? How is that going to impact on other things? "Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I've ever seen. So it would be stupid not to look at him. It's just the knock-on effect of what that means.

"He's an unbelievably good tactician, which we've seen in Test cricket, but he's a leader of men. He's someone who gets the best out of people. He's someone that, when the pressure is really on, he's able to throw a blanket around the players and actually say, 'no, no, this is the way forward. Keep going with it'." Stokes is currently in Abu Dhabi recovering with an England Lions training group and is expected to be fully fit for the summer with Durham.

Key, who was also in the UAE, believes Stokes has the ability to rejuvenate the ODI team, just as he did with the Test side.

"They're the qualities that you need in leadership. Ben's, as we know, an outstanding player, an outstanding leader. It's more about, what would that then mean to him? What would that then mean to his workload? "We don't want to risk other things as well. But there's always a way in England, I think, where you start looking at, 'what if it goes wrong?' You've also got to think, 'what if it goes right?'. They're the decisions that I have to make." Stokes’ rapport with Brendon McCullum, now overseeing England’s entire setup, may add weight to the idea.