Reports: Ben Stokes set to be England's Test captain, Gary Kirsten to be new head coach

England’s star all-rounder Ben Stokes has reportedly agreed to step into the Test captain’s shoes for his side and will be starting his duties soon. After meeting with Rob Key, the new Managing Director of the ECB, Stokes has decided to take over the reins from Joe Root and has also expressed his desire to get Stuart Broad and James Anderson to the side.

Stokes met Key on Tuesday for the first time since his appointment as the director of cricket for the men’s team. After their discussion, it is expected that Stokes will soon be announced as the new Test Captain as the ECB will be finalizing the paperwork before making it official.

As per a report by The Telegraph, Key will conduct his first news conference at the Lord’s on Thursday, where he is expected to make the announcement. While stokes had been out of the game for some time owing to mental health issues, he will be back into action full-time starting this summer.

Broad and Anderson, who were left out of the squad for the West Indies series, will be back on board once Stokes takes over the duties. He is obstinate about getting the two back, and the decision has not been taken emotionally. The two will be part of the squad throughout the summer for England’s fixtures.

Stokes lacks experience of captaincy but has been in the game for a long time

England continued their dry run when they lost the series against West Indies in what was a dismal turnout. Though he does not have much captaincy experience, Stokes has been Root’s deputy for a long period of time.

When the first-choice team was forced out owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, he guided England to a 3-0 white-ball triumph over Pakistan last summer. When Root had been on paternity leave in 2020, he directed the team for one Test against the West Indies. Although England lost the game, Stokes made a mark and impressed everyone with his strategic thinking when he left Broad out and paired Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for the first time.

Key is also keen on appointing the new head coach for the men’s team, thereby dividing the responsibilities of the red-ball and white-ball formats separately. And reports suggest that former South African legend Gary Kirsten and Former Australian coach Simon Katich are the top candidates in contention.