England right to give captaincy to Harry Brook over Ben Stokes, says Michael Atherton
Michael Atherton believes Rob Key would be criticised were Ben Stokes to suffer an injury in a T20 or ODI, and has backed the decision to hand the white-ball captaincy to Harry Brook in order to protect Stokes ahead of the Ashes later this year
Tuesday 8 April 2025 09:55, UK
Michael Atherton believes England were right to give the white-ball captaincy to Harry Brook over Ben Stokes in order to avoid 'overburdening' the Test team skipper.
Brook will take over as captain of England's T20 and ODI teams after Jos Buttler stepped down from his post in the wake of a disappointing group-stage exit in the Champions Trophy.
The 26-year-old Brook begins his tenure with a home series against West Indies at the end of May, having experienced a taste of the captaincy in the absence of the injured Buttler during last September's ODI series against Australia.
- Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW
- England men's cricket results and fixtures 2025
- Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want!
"I think the right move is that they haven't given it to Stokes as that was talked about a little bit," Atherton told Sky Sports.
"I think it's the right thing not to have overburdened Stokes, who has a clear project with the Test team at the moment and, at 33, his body is creaking a bit.
"He's had enough hamstring injuries to put him out of a serious amount of cricket in the last two of three years so to give him extra responsibility, I don't think that would have been the right move."
While Brook had undoubtedly emerged as an obvious contender to earn the role on merit, the decision to hand him the captaincy was too seemingly based on a desire to protect the fitness of Stokes in view of the Ashes later this year.
"That Test project has seen lots of great moments," Atherton added. "One or two less good moments but broadly it has been a success.
"That will be defined by the India series at home this summer and Ashes series away in the winter so to keep that tightly defined focus is the right thing.
"If Stokes had been torn a hamstring in an ODI or a T20 you can imagine the criticism that would have come Rob Key's way."
'Brook plays the McCullum way'
Brook, who has served as the white-ball vice-captain for the past year, has scored 816 runs at an average of 34.00 in 26 ODIs for England to date, having also earned 44 caps in T20 internationals for his country.
"You really don't know (what kind of captain Brook will be)," Atherton added. "He has had limited captaincy experience, in charge of the ODI series at home to Australia last September.
"England lost that 3-2 but he did a pretty good job and got a hundred and a couple of half-centuries. On that evidence it didn't affect his game and it looked like it took it on a level."
Brook underlined his commitment to England this year when he relinquished his £590,000 deal with Delhi Capitals in the IPL, his decision to withdraw meaning he is suspended from two seasons of the tournament.
"He plays the game in the way Brendon McCullum likes, which is pretty aggressively, and he seems like a laidback character which, again, is the McCullum way," Atherton continued.
"And when you take away the radical Stokes option, there weren't many options. It was a sensible choice and probably the only choice England could make.
"You've got to have somebody who's going to be a regular pick and Sam Curran, Sam Billings and James Vince are not in the team."
Brook has become a prominent figure and something of a flag-bearer for McCullum's England, long tipped to assert himself as a stalwart on the international stage.
He is now tasked with coupling his aggressive batting style with captaincy duties in a fresh chapter for the white-ball set-up.
"There are a lot of moving parts," said Atherton. "You have to keep on top of your own game, which Jos Buttler found difficult in the last year or two and it adds pressure if the team is not doing well as it hasn't been over the last few years.
"Then everything you say is picked over. In that Australia series after a batter was caught in the deep he said something like 'who cares?' Everyone knew what he meant but it sometimes didn't come out exactly as he intended and the words gets analysed.
"It is a difficult job and very different to being just a player.
"Plus, there is a lot or cricket out there, which is one of the reasons he stepped away from the IPL. He is three-format player so is going to have to manage his workload carefully."
Visit skysports.com or the Sky Sports App for all the breaking sports news headlines. You can receive push notifications from the Sky Sports app for the latest news from your favourite sports, you can follow @SkySportsNews on X to get the latest updates and you can also now follow Sky Sports' WhatsApp channel.
