Stokes in line to be anointed as England's Test captain

Ben Stokes could be confirmed as England's Test captain as soon as overnight Thursday, Australian time, when new managing director Rob Key appears at Lord's to outline his vision for the men's side.

And Stokes is reported to have pushed for a recall for James Anderson and Stuart Broad in his first meeting with Key where he was offered the top job.

Stokes was the immediate favourite to succeed Joe Root when the Yorkshireman stood down after five years in charge but, with a leadership vacuum at the England and Wales Cricket Board, no decision could be made until Key's appointment was ratified.

The former Kent captain, who was capped 21 times by his country across all formats but was still a surprise appointment as managing director, held positive talks with Stokes in Durham this week when sounding him out as the next skipper.

Despite his previous role as Root's right-hand man, Stokes' decision was not a given. 

His workload as a full-blooded allrounder is already sizeable, he has previously distanced himself from coveting the job and only last year he took a four-month mental health break from the sport.

But as a cricketer he has defined himself by devoting himself to the needs of the team and it has become increasingly clear that, with other captaincy options lacking experience, form or a current place in the team, his promotion is best for business.

However that also raises the thorny question of who to appoint as vice-captain for the side, with Stokes continuing to be troubled by a knee complaint that has kept him off the ground for periods while he was vice-captain to Root.

Rubber-stamping Stokes' appointment at ECB board level should be a formality but it is not certain that it will be pushed through in time of Key's scheduled meeting with the British press.

Key, an accomplished television broadcaster in recent years, is due to face the media on Thursday at Lord's for the first time since taking the reins and would prefer to come bearing news on Stokes.

That would give him something concrete to talk about and help nudge the conversation forward with less than five weeks before the first Test of the summer against New Zealand.

The timeline does not realistically allow Key to wait for a Test coach to be in place before anointing Stokes.

The returns of Anderson and Broad were reported to be a key part of the discussions with Stokes after the seam-bowling pair were controversially left out of England's tour of the West Indies following last summer's Ashes hiding.

Former South Africa and India head coach Gary Kirsten, currently working with Indian Premier League franchise Gujarat Lions and Hundred side Welsh Fire, has once again emerged as an option to take on the red-ball role four years after being rejected by England.

Kirsten is understood to have lost out to Chris Silverwood on the strength of his interview in 2018, but both parties could be ready to take a fresh look at the situation.

Graham Ford, Mahela Jayawardene, current assistant coach Paul Collingwood and former Australian test player Simon Katich would also come with strong claims.

Key has plenty to discuss beyond the on-field leadership and will be called upon to provide some clarity on the coaching structure beneath the new format-specific heads as well as the selection panel.

Key will begin interviewing head coach applicants from May 9, less than a month out from their season-opening Test against New Zealand on June 2. Their next limited-overs matches come in a three-match ODI series against the Netherlands on June 17.

Key, a pundit for British broadcaster Sky before being hired by England, has made no secret of his forthright opinions on coaching.

He declared in January that Ricky Ponting would be his ideal candidate for England after their Ashes defeat but conceded it was unlikely the cricket great would be interested.

That's despite proclaiming a year earlier, in a newspaper column for the Evening Standard, that "in my experience, most great players make shocking coaches, because they can't relate to the struggle of the mortal".

Laying out his view on how modern international coaches should operate, Key suggested they should be a "calming authority" and "should be seen only occasionally and heard even less".

And in a subtle dig at then Australia coach Langer, who was prominent in the 2020 Amazon documentary The Test that followed the team's fortunes following the 2018 sandpaper scandal, Key went on to write: "Even England fans might not actually know their coach's name.

"And if they ever needed to restore a ruined reputation with a gently-shot PR documentary, he certainly wouldn't try to be the star of the show. When we do hear from him, he doesn't come across as a Churchillian orator – but who cares?"