Former England captain Ben Stokes has again denied the possibility of a fairytale return to the Test arena for the 2027 Ashes, a debate sparked up by Australia head coach Andrew McDonald, who opined that Stokes still has plenty of cricket left in him.
The charismatic all-rounder, though, expressed his desire to be a coach someday of the England team, stating that he’s already signed up for a coaching course.
Stokes retired from international cricket in June, following the series defeat against New Zealand. In the aftermath of Stokes walking out and England losing a second consecutive Test series – England lost the Ashes 2025/26 in Australia – the ECB sacked Brendon McCullum as the Test head coach.
Will Ben Stokes return for Ashes 2027?
Appearing on the For The Love Of Cricket Podcast, hosted by Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler, Stokes ruled out a potential comeback in next year’s Ashes, adding that he wishes to become England’s coach in the future.
Stokes said, “I’m doing my level three coaching now while I’m still playing, because I want, when the day comes that I’m not playing anymore, I’d love to be able to have all that stuff signed off and done.
“I know what I want to do in terms of staying within the game, which is to be a coach. And would I love to be coach of England one day? Absolutely. I just really like the idea of being, again, like, in some form of leadership away from playing.”
Root named new captain over Brook; Stokes disagrees with ECB
Recently, the ECB announced Joe Root and Stephen Fleming as the new captain-coach pair. Root had given up captaincy in 2022 but finds himself in probably an unprecedented situation in English cricket as he’s been handed the reins once again.
England men’s managing director, Rob Key, suggested the opportunity was “too soon” for Harry Brook, who is also the ODI and T20I captain. Key believed Brook is “still developing as a player and as a person,” and “I just didn’t feel the time was right now.”
Stokes, though, expected Brook to be his successor. He pointed out that with Brook being named the vice-captain last year ahead of the Ashes, he would be in line to get the captaincy.
“Brooky was made vice-captain – I’m not there anymore, but even when I missed that Test match [against New Zealand], I was like, ‘he’s vice captain?’
“I sort of understood the reasoning why they were saying it, but what message is that sending to him? He’s vice-captain, and the captain is not playing, but he’s not captain. And then the same again here [with the permanent role],” the former England skipper stated.
When is England’s next Test series?
England’s next Test series is against Pakistan at home. The three-match series will begin on August 19 in Leeds, with the 2nd and 3rd Test matches to be played at Lord’s and Edgbaston, respectively.
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