Ben Stokes has been tipped to become a "brilliant captain" by Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene, after the all-rounder was confirmed as England's new Test skipper.
Stokes has replaced Joe Root after he resigned from the role and described his appointment as "a real privilege". He said: "I am honoured to be given the chance to lead the England Test team. This is a real privilege, and I'm excited about getting started this summer.
"I want to thank Joe for everything he has done for English Cricket and for always being a great ambassador for the sport all across the world. He has been a massive part of my development as a leader in the dressing room, and he will continue to be a key ally for me in this role."
And Jayawardene, who briefly worked with Stokes during his time as England's batting consultant in 2015, feels he is perfect for the job. "I think he will be a brilliant captain," Jayawardene told the ICC Review .
"He has been around for a while and shown again and again that he is a brilliant competitor and he is a different beast altogether when he is on the field. England haven't seen an all-rounder captaining their Test team for a long time and I think he is the ideal candidate.
"Having his type of character [as captain] that might create a culture which they have had with white ball cricket recently, but now need to find that same kind of culture with red ball cricket."
Jayawardene also believes England "must" recall James Anderson and Stuart Broad this summer after the pair were controversially dropped for the recent 1-0 series defeat to the West Indies. Managing Director Rob Key has confirmed the pair will be in contention to return and Jayawardene believes there are "no better and more experienced bowlers" than Anderson and Broad in English conditions.
"Having them in for the England summer is a must," he said. "At home with the Dukes ball there are no better and more experienced bowlers than Jimmy and Stuart ... away from home is where the questions do arise.
"England have lots of guys familiar with Dukes conditions, but they go away from home and struggle against the Kookaburra so they do need to find the right personnel for the right conditions."
The 44-year-old also said he expects Root to "benefit" from stepping down as captain as he can now solely "concentrate on his batting". Jayawardene added: "Joe has been batting incredibly the last three or four years and he will continue to flourish, there is no doubt about that.
"I think he felt it was the best change for everyone and I think he is going to benefit from that as he can just concentrate on his batting.
"Knowing the competitor he is, he would have been disappointed that he had to make that call, but in the long run I think he will definitely benefit from that."
