2026-08-04 08:37:52
Ben Stokes hopes to coach the England cricket team in the future.
The former England captain announced his retirement from international cricket during the third and final Test of the series against New Zealand in June but has expressed hope of returning to the national team in a coaching capacity at some point.
Stokes told the For the Love of Cricket podcast: “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 any more, 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.”
Joe Root will return for a second spell as captain under new coach Stephen Fleming following Stokes’ retirement and the all-rounder has expressed concern about the impact the responsibility will have on the batter – who previously led the team from 2017 to 2022.
Stokes said: “I wish him [Root] nothing but success. I hope he goes on and achieves amazing things in his role as captain and I think he’s going to really enjoy it with Flem [Fleming]. He’s a great man.
“I’ve worked with Flem before but I told Joe, I said my only worry is just you. And that’s all I really care about now, just because I have seen what he went through and how much he put himself through for someone.
“He’s just always put the team first – he always comes second. And that’s just my only concern with it, is just obviously knowing what he went through last time he was in charge of the team. I don’t want to see that ever happen again because I care for Joe a lot, but I wish him all the success in the world.
“I’m sure he’s going to do great. So I’m looking forward to seeing what the team does going forward.”
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