Ben Stokes has confirmed that he will be returning to No6 in England’s batting order now he has taken over as captain of the Test team.
Stokes started out at No6 when he broke into the team nine years ago but edged up to No5 in 2018/19 as he emerged as one of England’s premier batters in an inconsistent order.
The aim under Joe Root’s captaincy had been to avoid burdening Stokes too much with the ball, but the new captain explained the rationale behind his change: a desire to play a full role as an all-rounder.
Stokes pondered moving back to No6 at times this winter, but it was decided he should remain at No5, from where he scored a sensational century against West Indies in Barbados.
“I’m going back to No6,” he said. “I know that I am at my best for England when I’m doing both [batting and bowling] as much as the other. I personally feel that going back to No6 is going to allow me to concentrate on those roles as much as the other, rather than worrying about one whilst I’m doing the other one. I feel that’s best for the team.”
The shape of the rest of England’s batting order remains up for debate.
Jonny Bairstow has batted No6 in England’s most recent series, but Stokes would not be drawn on whether the two would simply swap positions.
Stokes’ workload generally will be a hot topic during his captaincy, but he says he is confident it can be managed through a combination of his own judgement and conversations with England’s new Managing Director Rob Key. He accepts he will need to be rested for some white-ball action, just as he has been in recent years.
“No [I’m not worried],” he said. “I’ve always played all formats. Now, obviously, being captain of the Test team it adds a bit more to it. But those are conversations I’ll be having with Rob and Eoin going forward about playing the white ball stuff because I love playing for England over all three formats.
“But with the way that the schedule is this summer and even going into next year, it’s pretty hectic. So we do have to pretty sensible. Not just for myself: there are other multi-format players who will be playing Test cricket and then be looking at playing white ball as well. These decisions won’t just be about me, there’ll be four or five other guys who will be having to think about what they do.”
Stokes also accepts that he will need support from senior players in deciding when he should bring himself on to bowl – an issue he felt he dealt with well in his only previous Test in charge, against West Indies in 2020.
“That’s something I’m going to have to really focus on,” he said. “I’ve got great senior players around me in the team already, it would be stupid and naive of me not to include them in decisions out on the field especially.
“It’s something I thought I managed very well in my Test match against West Indies. I asked Jos a lot about me personally, what do you think? He’s played a lot of Test cricket. When you’re thinking about doing something yourself, you’re maybe not thinking about it as someone else would and Jos said to me a couple of times, ‘You need to come on here’.
“That’s an example of me using other people of seniority around me to help me. But I’ve always gone with my gut, it’s served me quite well. I’ll continue to do that going forward in my captaincy around not just myself, any decision about who I’m going to bring on to bowl, or what I do.
“I will be making sure that other players’ voices feel like they’re valued. I will still be using a lot of people around me, I don’t just want it to be Ben’s in charge now, he’s the only one making any type of decision. I feel that’s a key part of being a leader, making sure everyone around you feels valued.”
