Key Open to Stokes Ashes Comeback
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- Rob Key told Sky Sports he "wouldn't be surprised" if Ben Stokes came out of international retirement for next summer's home Ashes against Australia, though he has received no indication Stokes plans to reverse his decision.
- Stokes, 35, announced his retirement during England's third Test defeat by New Zealand in June, after missing the second Test while an investigation examined a London nightclub curfew breach in which he was ultimately found blameless.
- Brendon McCullum was sacked as Test coach and replaced by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who has never worked as a national team head coach but led Chennai Super Kings to a record five IPL titles across a 17-year tenure.
- Joe Root was confirmed as Stokes' successor as Test captain, having previously led England from 2017 to 2022 and accumulated 14,114 Test runs — second only to India's Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) on the all-time list.
- Fleming will not take charge of England's Test series against Pakistan in August; he will remain in New Zealand with his family before travelling to the UK next month to prepare for England's December Test tour of South Africa.
- England became the world's No. 1 ranked T20 side after a 4-0 series win over India under McCullum and white-ball captain Harry Brook, a result Key cited to push back on criticism that sacking McCullum wasted a summer.
- Michael Vaughan told BBC Sport that Root's immediate challenge is building a team "without an all-rounder like Ben Stokes," hinting that the Fleming-Root pairing might yet tempt Stokes back into the set-up for 2026-27.
Why it matters: England's Test side is being rebuilt around a Root-Fleming axis while leaving the door ajar for Stokes — a configuration Vaughan says requires Root to design a team formula without a Ben Stokes-caliber all-rounder, meaning every selection decision from now until next summer is effectively a hedge on whether the retirement holds. The South Africa tour in December will be Fleming's first assignment, and the Ashes the first real referendum.
