Ahmedabad, March 29 Eoin Morgan, England’s 2019 ODI World Cup winning captain, believes that Ben Stokes and Harry Brook are the two contenders to become the side’s next white-ball captain, though he also feels the latter is more of a long-term leadership option.
England are in search of a new white-ball skipper after wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler resigned from the role following the side losing all three of its group stage matches in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
On Friday, premier batter Joe Root had ruled himself out of the white-ball captaincy race. "I think there are a couple of options and the options are dependent solely on the direction they want to take. I think it's imperative that you will always have a target in mind."
"With the recent form the side, particularly in white-ball cricket, has had, you can't go out and all of a sudden try and win absolutely everything. You need to paint a picture moving forward as to what you're driving all of your energy towards."
"I think a bit of a left-field call would be to ask Ben Stokes to consider the role, not necessarily on a full-time basis. You would have to create an environment where Ben would slip in and out seamlessly in preparation for big tournaments and then sit on the backburner and focus on Test match cricket until those big tournaments came up," Morgan was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
Talking about Brook’s chances as captain, based on how he led England in ODIs against Australia last year in Buttler’s absence, Morgan stated, "If you highlight something that's in three years, four years, somebody like Harry Brook would do a magnificent job.
"He had the captaincy at the end of our summer last year against a really strong Australian side and I thought he was impressive. We know Harry Brook as this incredibly talented player that we're seeing grow and get better year on year, which is just a joy to watch. But the leadership role didn't seem to weigh on him."
England needs to find a new white-ball captain before they begin their 2025/26 home summer with three ODIs and as many T20Is against the West Indies, set to happen from May 29 to June 10.
"The testing element for me was after they lost a game in which I thought England played well, was just to see how they bounced back as team. The test is always when the team gets pushed back and for me they bounced back terrifically. Came back fighting, came back punching and it wasn't reckless."
"It was clear, confident, calculated. For me, that's a really good sign. Those would be the two contenders. It would just be determined on what they identify as big opportunities where they think that they can win ultimately," concluded Morgan.
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