Ben Stokes has thrown his full support behind Harry Brook as his preferred successor to lead England’s Test team following his retirement from international cricket. Brook, who currently captains England in ODIs and T20Is, has served as Stokes’ vice-captain in the Test setup and is widely regarded as the frontrunner to take over the role permanently.Interestingly, when Stokes was unavailable for the second Test against New Zealand, the England management opted for former captain Joe Root to lead the side instead of Brook. However, Stokes made it clear that he had no involvement in that decision and reiterated his belief that Brook is the natural choice to succeed him.“There’s a reason why he was asked to be vice-captain of this team, I know with all the controversy over the last couple of weeks, there were some decisions that were made, but those were decisions that I wasn’t part of making,” Stokes said after England’s defeat in his farewell Test.
Harry Brook should be natural successor
The 35-year-old explained that Brook’s promotion would simply follow the traditional leadership pathway within the team.“You’re asked to be vice-captain of a team for a certain reason, I was vice-captain under Joe for a long time, and it’s a natural progression. If the captain’s not there or unavailable, then you step up to do that. So there’s absolutely no reason why Harry shouldn’t be asked to do it,” Stokes added.Stokes also highlighted Brook’s growing influence within the dressing room, backing the Yorkshire batter to thrive in the role.“He is someone who is obviously an incredible player and one of the more senior players in this group. Only time will tell, but you don’t ask someone to be vice-captain if you don’t think they’ve got the skills and the ability to captain the team when they need to. If I was asked who I think should do it, I’m throwing my 100% support behind Harry Brook,” Stokes concluded.Brook was officially appointed England’s white-ball captain in April 2025 following Jos Buttler’s resignation and recently led the side during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Harry Brook has established himself as a generational superstar in Test cricket, currently occupying the World No. 2 spot in the ICC Test Batting Rankings right behind teammate Joe Root.
