Ben Stokes has trained his sights on becoming England head coach in the future and expressed concerns about Joe Root’s impending second stint as Test captain.
In his first interview since retiring from England duty in June – a two-hour chat with his former teammates Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler on the For The Love Of Cricket Podcast –Stokes again ruled out returning for next summer’s Ashes.
But the 35-year-old still has ambitions in the international arena, namely a possible move into coaching when he eventually calls time on his domestic career with Durham and any potential overseas franchise gigs in the coming winter.
Stokes said: “I’m doing my level three coaching now while I’m still playing because I want, when the day comes that I’m not playing any more, I’d love to be able to have all that stuff signed off and done.
“I know what I want to do in terms of staying within the game, which is to be a coach. And would I love to be coach of England one day? Absolutely. I just really like the idea of being, again, like, in some form of leadership away from playing.”
While England’s director of men’s cricket, Rob Key, has recently said the door would remain open for Stokes to make a dramatic return for next summer’s Ashes series at home, the all-rounder is currently insisting he is “definitely” retired.
One thing that might have tempted him back is his close friend Root having returned to the Test captaincy, under a new head coach in Stephen Fleming, after Key decided it was “too soon” for Harry Brook to step up.
Stokes signed off from his final Test at Trent Bridge insisting Brook, his vice-captain, should be his successor and has now reiterated the point.
The worry is that Root could once again find the job all-consuming to the detriment of his own game, while Stokes also disagreed with Brook not being asked to lead when he missed the second Test against New Zealand for disciplinary reasons.
Stokes said: “I think just if you think someone’s going to be a good captain or a good leader, then just give them it.
“Brooky was made vice-captain – I’m not there anymore, but even when I missed that Test match[against New Zealand], I was like, ‘he’s vice-captain?’
“I sort of understood the reasoning why they were saying it, but what message is that sending to him? He’s vice-captain, and the captain is not playing, but he’s not captain. And then the same again here [with the permanent role].”
On Root, who previously held the role from 2017 to early 2022 but struggled for results during the pandemic, Stokes added: “I love Rooty and I wish him nothing but success. I hope he achieves amazing things in his role as captain.
“He’s going to really enjoy working with [Fleming]. He’s a great man, I’ve worked with him before. I told Joe, I said my only worry is just you.
“And that’s all I really care about now, just because I have seen what he went through and how much he put himself through for someone.
“He’s just always put the team first, like he always comes second. And that’s just my only concern with it is just obviously knowing what he went through last time he was in charge of the team because I don’t want to see that ever happen again because I care for Joe a lot, but I wish him all the success in the world.”
