LONDON: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed the all-rounder Ben Stokes as the new Test captain, international media reported.

Stokes, who was considered the strongest contender for the Test captaincy – after Joe Root resigned from his position – has been appointed as England’s new Test captain.

On this occasion, the newly appointed managing director of ECB Rob Key talked to the media and said that time is right for Stokes.

“I think the time is right for Ben actually, Joe Root’s resignation from the position let the way for Ben to do it. He’s been a leader in that dressing room for a long long time and people turn to him and follow him along with Root when he was doing it,” Key said.

“He’ll be a strong leader. I think he’s got a good cricketing brain, everything he’s done has got him to this point and he’s got a lot of empathy as well, he’s one of those great cricketers who cares about the people around him. He understands why people struggle,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the all-rounder Stokes agreed to captain England in Tests, following his face to face meeting with ECB’s newly appointed director Key, English newspaper The Telegraph reported.

Furthermore, Stokes also wants the veteran pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad to make their comeback into the side.

READ: Stokes accepts captaincy, wants Anderson, Broad back: English Media