Harry Brook has said it would be a “great honour” to take on the captaincy of the England Test side after Ben Stokes’ abrupt retirement from international cricket.
Brook, England’s Test vice-captain and white-ball skipper, was overlooked for the captaincy for the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval in the aftermath of the nightclub incident that saw Stokes stood down.
The England hierarchy turned to former Test captain Joe Root for that match, although Brook said that was “the right decision” at the time.
However, the 27-year-old Yorkshireman would now relish the opportunity to lead England across all formats if he is chosen to succeed Stokes as Test skipper.
“It would be a great honour to captain England at Test level. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Brook said.
“The decision isn’t up to me, but if it was offered to me I’d be happy to take it.
Brook was speaking to the media ahead of England’s opening T20I against India on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports
“It would be a tough job [across all formats], but everything is tough in cricket. It’s a hard sport and I’ve committed completely to England. I don’t want to play franchise cricket apart from The Hundred. Everything I want to do is to play cricket for England.”
Stokes has also identified Brook as his natural successor.
“I like trying to be fearless and putting pressure back on the opposition,” Brook said. “But the decision isn’t up to me.”
He added: “I love working with [Brendon] McCullum. He’s an unbelievable coach.”
Stokes backs Brook for Test captain
Stokes has made it clear who he thinks should follow him as England Test captain.
“If I was asked who I think should do it, I would be throwing my 100 per cent support behind Harry Brook,” Stokes said.
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Stokes says he ‘100 per cent supports Brook’ to take over as England captain and that it is a natural progression from vice-captain
“There’s absolutely no reason why Harry shouldn’t be asked to do that. He’s an incredible player, one of the more senior players in this group – we all know he’s a phenomenally talented individual when it comes to his skill as a batter.
“If you lump a bit more responsibility on his shoulders with this team, we don’t know if that’s going to show any more improvement in the skills he’s already got. Only time will tell.
“But you don’t ask someone to be vice-captain if you don’t think they’ve got the skills or the ability to captain the team when they need to.”
England vs New Zealand results
Watch the first T20I between England and India live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5pm on Wednesday (5.30pm start).
