Ben Stokes could be the right man at the right time for England - Jonathan Agnew
- Published
Rob Key - Ben Stokes the best man for England captaincy
Ben Stokes was the only candidate to be England's new Test captain.
The others in the squad during the defeat in the West Indies were not going to be captain any time soon and Rob Key, the new managing director of men's England cricket, discounted the idea of appointing someone from outside the team.
England are at rock bottom so opting for a skipper who is trying to prove their place in the XI was a no-go.
It had to be Stokes and it could be the making of him.
We know he has the talent and the audacity. You just have to think back to 2019 - his innings in the World Cup final and his heroics at Headingley against Australia six weeks later.
But what he can take from those innings into his leadership is his clarity of thought.
For years now Stokes has been a very responsible member of this England team. He is often their spokesperson, a leader on the field and he was the vice-captain.
Of course people will look back at two other talismanic all-rounders, Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff, who stepped up to lead England and found things tough.
But Stokes is his own man. We cannot judge him on those that have come before.
I believe he will be a very good captain, potentially the right man for the time being.
On and off the field English cricket is a mess. It needs grabbing by the scruff of the neck and if Stokes can thrust out his tattooed right arm and drag the game in this country along with him then it could be the best thing for it.
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However, I hope England do not saddle him with the captaincy for too long.
The immediate plan has to be take it game by game, get back to winning ways and build some of that confidence back.
It might be that in 12 months the team has developed and someone else can step up, allowing Stokes to go back to concentrating on his cricket.
Ben has seen his great friend Joe Root, who gave the job everything in trying circumstances, become gaunt by the end in the Caribbean.
You don't want to see Stokes reduced to that. He needs to be liberated to go out and play his game and lead from the front.
That's why Stokes needs someone alongside him who can take some of the pressure off.
Key has already made some smart decisions and the next choice, to appoint a new Test coach, will be crucial.
Having wisely decided to split the red and white-ball coaching roles, it is going to be really interesting to see who Key can entice to take up the job in the longest format in particular.
I imagine he will try to recruit the most high-profile name he can find, with Paul Collingwood an obvious favourite for the white-ball team.
It is a good opportunity for a coach because the only way is up.
Key seems to have made a very sensible start with his straight-talking first appearance in front of the media at Lord's on Thursday.
I have seen Key a lot around the grounds during his time working as a pundit and I have listened to what he has to say. I thoroughly respect him.
He talks directly, clearly and, crucially, has a very good grasp of the English game.
If the new coach is going to come in from overseas - former South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten and ex-Australia batsman Simon Katich have both been mooted - then the managing director has to know English cricket inside out.
Key does. He's a straight-talker and has already started to right the wrongs of recent months.
It was clearly a failure to drop James Anderson and Stuart Broad, England's most successful bowlers of all-time, for the West Indies tour.
Key has already confirmed, fitness and form permitting, those two will be back in the summer and Stokes will have two world-class bowlers who are fired up to prove a point at his disposal.
The chief selector role is going to be brought back by Key too, another decision that is clearly right.
Being coach and selector was always going to be too big a job for one man, as Chris Silverwood found out to his detriment.
England's repeated mistakes on selection in the past 15 months - in India or during the Ashes at Brisbane and Adelaide - show you need more voices in these meetings.
It seems England have set out on a measured, sensible path with Stokes at the helm.
But with largely the same players and world champions New Zealand their next opponents in June, it is not going to be easy to turn this ship around.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Matthew Henry.