Harry Brook has been appointed England’s new white-ball captain after it was decided that Ben Stokes’s fitness must be protected for his Test team’s Ashes tilt.
Brook, 26, was Jos Buttler’s vice-captain in the final months of his frustrating three-year reign, and has now been confirmed as his successor.
Rob Key, England’s managing director, said when Buttler stepped down that England would be “stupid” not to consider Test captain Stokes as his successor, despite him not playing an ODI since November 2023 or a T20 since November 2022. Stokes has also largely given up franchise cricket in order to prioritise his fitness for Test cricket.
It is understood that handing Stokes, who is 34 in June, the ODI captaincy was given serious consideration by Key and head coach Brendon McCullum, who concluded after assessing his fitness that he would so rarely be available for bilateral matches, he was not a viable candidate.
There is no global ODI tournament until autumn 2027 in South Africa, by which point Stokes will be 36, and Brook will be an experienced international and captain.
This leaves Stokes, in the latter part of his career with injuries mounting, to concentrate on the Test team in a year that features five-Test series at home to India and away to Australia. Since becoming captain he has contended with a chronic knee issue and two series hamstring tears, the second of which he is currently recovering from.
Stokes celebrated the news, posting “Yes Brooky lad”, on social media.
Yes Brooky lad 🤟🤟 https://t.co/qfysetaopq
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) April 7, 2025
Brook has played 70 white-ball internationals (26 ODIs, 44 T20s) since his debut three years ago, and impressed on the occasions he stepped in for Buttler. He has also captained his county, Yorkshire, and Hundred franchise, Northern Superchargers when available between England duties.
Brook’s is not a totally straightforward appointment. England’s busy schedule means he will not be available to play every game in every format, meaning Key and McCullum will need to groom other leaders to stand in for lower-profile series.
The tour of India and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan earlier this year ultimately doomed Buttler’s captaincy. But it also saw Brook experience a major form dip as his struggles on spinning pitches continued. In the aftermath, he pulled out of the Indian Premier League for the second successive season (in 2024 he ...
