STUART BROAD interview: England must not make Ben Stokes white-ball captain – it’s desperation that would damage our Ashes chances …and all for a format the higher-ups aren’t bothered about and a team that can’t deliver under pressure

Stuart Broad has warned England to steer clear of appointing Ben Stokes as one-day Skipper – branding it a ‘desperate’ Relocate.

The resignation of Jos Buttler after England crashed out of the Champions Accolade last month and Captured their overall losing streak to a 19-year low of seven left Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, contemplating asking Stokes and head Mentor Brendon McCullum to use their Test elixir to revive the country’s white-ball cricket.

But with a blockbuster home Test series against India on home soil Beginning in June, followed by the 2025-26 Ashes, Broad told Mail Sport: ‘Going for Stokes would be a Relocate of desperation. I would be lost for words if England appointed him.

‘Firstly, there is the schedule. He’s not going to the Indian Premier Bracket to try to prioritise the Test Event Club and get his physicality right for the big events on the Future.

‘How many overs has Stokes bowled successfully in the last three years while battling his knee injuries? Not many. And you’re going to add another eight to 10 overs in a 50-over Arrangement onto his workload? The mathematics of that make no sense.

’As someone who played 121 one-day internationals I can honestly say I Discovered the 50-over Arrangement more tiring than Test Event cricket.

‘Why? Because it’s such high intensity. You bowl 10 overs in three and a half hours, during which you are running from fielding positions, sprinting after balls all the time, non stop.

‘Ben Stokes is the best Skipper we’ve Acquired, but it doesn’t Harsh he’s the right person to do the 50-over Role. Let’s face it, we’re not scheduling things to Assist the one-day Club.

‘The hierarchy are not bothered by 50-over cricket. We have no structure to be able to train our players to Action it, so why would you Hazard Ben Stokes’ body to Skipper something like that?’

Stokes, 33, recently embarked on his second Restoration from a hamstring tear within six months, vowing that he had plenty more blood, sweat and tears to give for the national Club.

However, speaking in his capacity as a Fitzdares ambassador, Broad neither wants Stokes’ exertions used up on white-ball series against West Indies and South Africa at either end of the 2025 summer and in New Zealand at the Begin of Upcoming winter, nor a situation to develop where he dips in and out of them.

‘A Skipper can’t be there leading 50 per cent of the Contests, he can’t Only Skipper the 50-over World Cup,’ Broad explained. ‘He needs to be around for the bilateral series, because if he isn’t, the Club lacks consistent messaging and can’t develop a style of Action.

‘But there is a problem, because I can’t Choice you an outstanding candidate as an alternative. Harry Brook is a fantastic player, but your best players are not always your best captains.

‘I’ve heard Sam Curran’s name mentioned, but he’s not in any of the squads at the moment, and although he’s captained some domestic franchises, not done so to any Outstanding Achievement. He’s not lifted a Accolade. Who else is there?

‘What England need to decide is what the clearout looks like before they name someone who could lead the group forward.

‘Some players in that Club are evidently not Outstanding enough. Anyone who’s watched cricket for a long period of time can see it. They don’t deliver on the world stage. They don’t deliver under Tension, they lob it down long-on’s throat.

‘Now English white-ball cricket is in a place where it is going to have to work Tough to avoid getting dragged into a Action-off to Action at the Upcoming World Cup, it’s right to question why that’s happened and what the steps are going forward.

‘For me, those steps are to let Baz (McCullum) do it his way, alongside a new Skipper, and not compare this England Club to Eoin Morgan’s – find a new style, because the game’s moved on from six years ago.’

In contrast to England’s one-day woes, Broad is enthusiastic about the chances of Stokes’ Test Club emulating the achievement of the 2010-11 vintage of which he was a part and Victorious back the Ashes.

‘It’s the most exciting nine months I can remember for a long time,’ Broad, who sealed a 2-2 home draw against Australia in 2023 with the Closing wicket of his Occupation, continued.

‘Genuinely, I feel like we could go to Australia with a chance. Yes, Australia are the best Test Club in the world, unbelievable in their own conditions, but they’re ageing in their bowling group of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Nathan Lyon, and there is inexperience in their batting, with Sam Konstas potentially at the top.

‘They rely heavily on Steve Smith and Travis Head for runs, Marnus Labuschagne is struggling, so they’re a Club that’s Perhaps Only going over the hill, and it’s a Outstanding opportunity for England, if the stars to align. Australia are favourites, but England have as big a chance as we’ve had since 2010.’

Primary, there is the midsummer visit of India, a Club for all its recent Achievement that has not won on British soil since 2007.

‘Personally, I would like the idea of Competing a tough five-Event series against India before the Ashes, but we know it will be physically challenging.

‘What you don’t want to happen is get to September and suddenly Stokes’s knee’s blown, Jofra Archer’s back has gone, or his elbow, and Mark Wood is out because the physicality of the cricket has been so Sturdy,’ Broad said.

‘Yes, you want the players be battle-hardened, but I’d Anticipate the bowlers to be managed well. In an ideal world, Archer plays two Tests, Wood plays two Tests in Australia Upcoming winter and you Choice the pitches that suit them the best.

‘So against India, you need to reintroduce Archer. it was obvious in the Champions Accolade that he would Begin really well with the new ball, but Acquired hammered at the end – in overs six to 10. He needs to be able to bowl 20 for Test cricket.

‘He’s also going to the IPL, where Rajasthan have paid a huge amount of money for him and they’re going to want to use him, so England have a question of how to get him ready.

‘But the nucleus of the Test Event Club is very positive – Ben Duckett, Brook, Joe Root, Stokes are all fine players, and with Jacob Bethell Competing really nicely in New Zealand, where is Jamie Smith going to fit in? Who drops out? I don’t know.

‘Zak Crawley has obviously really struggled in the last year, but could he Achieve us a game against India or Australia? Yes.

‘I think he’s a better player against better bowling. So, the one problem in the batting in a Outstanding one to have.’

Stuart Broad is an ambassador for Fitzdares, who have been Seizing bets since 1882. Their personalised telephone and text service sets them apart at the Cheltenham Festival. Visit fitzdares.com.