BEN STOKES has agreed to replace Joe Root as England’s Test cricket captain, according to reports.
And he wants to bring James Anderson and Stuart Broad back into the fold.
The all-rounder, 30, was the heavy favourite to take over after his return from a break away from the game.
Root stepped down as skipper earlier in April following the tour to the West Indies.
And according to The Telegraph, Stokes is happy to succeed the Yorkshire batter.
The Durham ace is said to have sat down for a face-to-face meeting with new director of cricket Rob Key on Tuesday.
Key will put the proposal to the ECB but to get the green light before announcing the decision, possibly as early as tomorrow.
High on the agenda during the talks were Anderson and Broad.
The legendary pace bowlers have an astonishing 1,177 Test wickets between them for England.
But the pair – whose combined age will hit 76 this summer – were dumped from the squad that took on the West Indies as England lost the series.
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The ten-wicket mauling in the final Test put England bottom of the World Test Championship table.
Three weeks later, Root announced his resignation with a record of just one win in his last 17 games.
Elsewhere, the ECB have resorted to advertising online for England head coaches.
Separate ads for the Test and limited-over roles were posted on job hiring platform Applied on Saturday.
Key is racing to appoint a coach and captain by the summer’s First Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2 – the squad must be picked by May 26.
