Heather Knight and Jos Buttler both stepped down from their England captain roles

There are two big vacancies at the top of English cricket – but who should fill them? We asked our writers to choose who they would like to see replace Heather Knight and Jos Buttler. This article first appeared in issue 86 of Wisden Cricket Monthly, available to pre-order here.

Yas Rana

Wisden head of content

For the men, I don’t see the need to name a permanent captain before September, by which time they’d have only contested a pair of home series against West Indies. Harry Brook is the obvious choice for the ODI job given his excellent audition against Australia last summer but he lacks T20 captaincy experience, and next year’s World Cup in Asia increasingly looks like a hospital pass, especially for Brook who plays all three formats and will just have come off an Ashes tour. A temporary appointment specifically for that tournament should be considered.

There are no obvious candidates to take over from Heather Knight. Nat Sciver-Brunt is the vice-captain but failed miserably in her two most high-profile days in the main job, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and in England’s defeat to West Indies last year. Of the younger generation, Charlie Dean is the one who most obviously radiates traditional leadership qualities but again, is this asking too much of a youngster? Kate Cross and Tammy Beaumont are both reasonable short-term options but neither are T20I regulars. The uncapped Grace Scrivens is an increasingly tempting left-field option but there is a reason why she has yet to earn selection on her batting alone.

Phil Walker

WCM editor-in-chief

If I was Clare Connor I’d sit Sophie Ecclestone down, look her in the eye, reel off a few home truths and give her the following ultimatum: get serious or get lost. Ecclestone, still just 25 but immensely experienced, is many things: primarily, and essentially, she’s one of England’s few world-class players, but she’s also bolshy and charismatic, makes impulsive decisions, possesses an irascible streak and enjoys a good time, and it’s for all these reasons too that the dressing room bends to her. Ecclestone is too pervasive a presence within it – and too good at what she does on the pitch – to be treated as just another player, so let’s lean into that. We’ve reached a hinge point in the story of English women’s cricket. HK’s sacking marks the end of the beginning of the first great era of professionalism. It leaves a void which needs filling creatively. Shake up the culture by empowering the very woman who’s perceived to embody its faults. Give Ecclestone her head, let NSB just play, and see where it takes us. Responsibility made Ben Stokes. I can see it happening here.

And obviously give the ODI stuff to Harry Brook, while Sam Curran, just installed as Surrey skipper and an IPL stalwart, can have a run at the T20 gig ahead of next year’s World Cup.

John Stern

WCM editor at large

Harry Brook is the only logical choice to replace Jos Buttler. Of course, that creates workload challenges which makes it vital to have a deputy (or deputies) in place too. But the upside is that, like Ben Stokes, he looks like someone who thrives on responsibility, has an instinctive feel for the game and revels in the ‘game play’. Also, the age of top players gaining captaincy experience for their county is long gone so the international white-ball arena provides Brook – and the rest of us – with a chance to see what he’s made of.

Replacing Heather Knight feels like a thornier problem, not least because we don’t know who the new head coach is. Let’s assume it’s someone with plenty of experience then this might be the time for a leap of faith towards a younger player like the 24-year-old Charlie Dean. We have to acknowledge Australia’s eye-watering brilliance in the Ashes but we also have to acknowledge that England failed in the basics of the game and a younger leader feels appropriate. England are hosting the T20 World Cup next year so there’s not a heap of time for a new squad and culture to develop. Nat Sciver-Brunt, 32, is the outstanding player of this generation (and many others) and would be the continuity candidate but this doesn’t feel like a Stokes situation – let the allrounder tear it up and let someone else do the thinking and worrying.

Katya Witney

Wisden.com staff writer

Harry Brook is the only choice to be England's next men's white-ball captain. Whoever that Rob Key's eye casts over, he will see similar workload pitfalls, burden worries and experience gaps. A Brook captaincy is going to happen at some point in his career, so it might as well be now with a longer run-in to the next international tournament, and even longer until the most noteworthy. Give him a long run, and all the tools, perhaps even breaks now and then with a competent deputy in the form of a Sam Curran or even Ben Duckett figure. Giving him room to grow in the job is crucial and the less emphasis placed on his leadership the better.

That's the easy part out of the way. The marks of the previous era of women's cricket in England – of the first steps into professionalism and an unwillingness to rock the boat – have set up the problem it now faces. By making captains statesmen for the games' future, politicians at the same time as players, an autocracy rules which benefits few.

Knight was never an imposing leader, but her stature in the game left little room for other leaders to develop. That, combined with the self-depreciation of a number of players who have come through in that previous era, has left a dearth of successors. Sciver-Brunt is the frontrunning candidate but something feels off. England's best player and figurehead she might be, but England need a shake-up, and it's hard to see her at its head. A real shakeup would be Sophie Ecclestone, and perhaps if she hadn't had that so public spat with Alex Hartley, she would be an easier choice. However, the right choices are sometimes the hardest to make, and choosing her might benefit not only England as a team, but Ecclestone as an individual.

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