Ben Stokes eyes future England coaching role, questions Root workload

Ben Stokes said he would love to coach England in the future, and his remarks raised fresh questions about how much more leadership England wants to place on Joe Root. Speaking on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, the 35-year-old all-rounder also expressed concern about the toll captaincy could take on Root, as England continues to juggle succession, senior-player workload and the long shadow of its recent leadership churn.

Stokes, who has played 122 Tests, 114 one-day internationals and 43 T20s for England, said he was surprised Harry Brook did not succeed him as England Test captain. That decision kept Root at the center of the conversation. Root stepped down as England Test captain in April 2022 after a record 64 Tests in charge and 28 wins, both England records at the time, before later being brought back into the role after Stokes’s future as captain was questioned. Root is now in a “very different place” to when he first walked away from the job.

The wider issue is not just who leads England, but how the side manages the strain that comes with being the senior figure. Stokes had previously said he had no ambition to be England captain, and he later said he could not see a future as England men’s Test captain without Brendon McCullum as coach. That link between captain and coach has become part of England’s leadership model, with Stokes appearing to tie his own long-term prospects to McCullum’s presence rather than to the captaincy alone.

England’s handling of Brook added another layer to the debate. Rob Key said Harry Brook’s disciplinary record was not the main reason for the captaincy decision, a comment that pointed away from discipline as the decisive factor and toward a broader judgment about leadership readiness. Sky Sports analysis said England’s next Test coach would have to find a captain and replace Stokes, underscoring how narrow the pool of trusted options has become.

Stokes’s comments now place coaching on the same horizon as captaincy once was. For England, that means the succession question is no longer limited to who follows Root or Stokes on the field. It also reaches into who will carry the workload, who can be protected from exhaustion, and how long the team can keep leaning on the same small group of senior names.