Piling this on Ben Stokes’ plate may seem insane. But here’s why it can work, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH

Rob Key’s decision to sound out Ben Stokes about the vacant ODI captaincy may sound like a desperate measure at a desperate time.

And, for England’s one-day side, these really are desperate times. But as with the Test team’s Bazball revolution, there may just be method to the madness.

First, of course, Stokes must be persuaded to recommit to a format he quit in 2022, only to unretire for the 2023 World Cup in India. Given his pledge to throw everything at the Test job, and the increasing fragility of his 33-year-old body, that may not be straightforward.

But England have to find a way to stop the white-ball bleeding, and Key believes there is no better candidate to lead the recovery than Stokes.

His win percentage as Test captain — just short of 60 — comes on the back of one victory from 17 under Joe Root, and is the highest among players to lead England at least 10 times since Douglas Jardine in the 1930s.

The fact that Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, felt the need to trot this stat out at Lord’s was partly a rebuke to those who have swallowed the narrative that the Test team are struggling — when they have won six and lost only two of their 10 series under Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

Stokes will be forced to return to a format he has quit – but his relationship with head coach Brendon McCullum could be beneficial

England have to find a way to stop the white ball bleeding, and Rob Key (left) believes Stokes is the man to make that happen

But it was also a restatement of the leadership credentials that Key regards as non-negotiable if England’s ODI side are to return to the heights that brought them the 2019 World Cup under Eoin Morgan.

Key believes that England’s white-ball decline reflects, above all, a crisis of confidence — and that Stokes, with his clear messaging and watertight relationship with head coach McCullum, is better placed than anyone to put it right.

Stokes has been with Andrew Flintoff’s England Lions in Abu Dhabi, where he has spoken to the players about the importance of competing in the crunch moments — an area that let England down badly during their Champions Trophy defeats by Australia and Afghanistan.

In that respect, the ECB are convinced talent is not the problem. But there has been an absence of game awareness and a stomach for the battle, and Stokes has never been accused of lacking either.

He would also dovetail with McCullum more naturally than the more introverted Jos Buttler, though here Key must take responsibility: both Buttler and Matthew Mott, McCullum’s predecessor as white-ball coach, lost their jobs one tournament too late.

While Mott should have gone after the 2023 World Cup debacle in India, Buttler should have paid the price for the failed defence of the T20 trophy in the Caribbean last summer.

Instead, both were allowed to carry on, saddling England with predictable failure at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, and reducing preparation time for next year’s T20 World Cup and the 50-over edition in 2027.

Key, meanwhile, is relaxed about the possibility that Stokes’s body may not stand the strain for another two years, believing that the next-best option to him captaining the side in southern Africa in 2027 is for him to hand over a confident line-up in time for the tournament to his successor — probably Harry Brook.

Former captain Jos Buttler (right) was given one tournament too many before leaving the role

Harry Brook would likely be Stokes’ successor while leading the T20 side – he has not looked out his depth as a leader before

And that is where Brook’s ascent to the T20 job would make sense. He didn’t look out of his depth while leading England’s 50-over side against Australia in September, when he averaged 78 from five innings, and is one of only two specialist batsmen — along with Ben Duckett — who is guaranteed a place for all three formats.

If he does eventually replace Stokes as Test captain — and, in this scenario, as ODI captain too — then he would have done an apprenticeship.

Stokes might also teach Brook a thing or two about public pronouncements, with Key admitting his players speak ‘rubbish a lot of the time’ — and Brook isn’t immune to putting his foot in his mouth. 

The tendency, Key believes, stems from a mixture of insecurity and a well-meant desire to be supportive of team-mates. Even so, it has won England few friends.

Whether the clarity provided by Stokes will improve the discourse is another matter. After all, his Bazballers have not been averse to grand statements.

But his return would mean another adult in the room. And right now, England’s white-ball set-up could sorely do with more of those.