English cricket faces uncertain future with no indication whether Stokes can or will continue as captain

PL monitors the fallout from Ben Stokes big night out

Rob Key in the official ECB interview on Thursday

It’s official then. English cricket has moved from denial to acceptance. And is now grieving the death of its great experiment. Director of cricket Rob Key has acknowledged, grimly, that a side of people previously believed to be responsible adults needs to be disciplined and monitored like delinquent schoolboys, and that Ben Stokes, the current captain, is dangerously tired.

At least we presume Stokes is; rescue parties have been unable to locate the leader since the whole box and dice came tumbling down on his head.

Stokes’ captaincy faces threats from several fronts. Key refuses to confirm he will keep the job, and if that does not play out, Stokes himself is understood to be close to calling it a day and may just walk away anyway.

With the cricket boss acknowledging that Harry Brook is not ready for the skipper’s role in Test matches, Joe Root may find himself asked to consider another stint in a job which left him as exhausted and unable to go on four years ago.

Root will lead England in the second Test while these matters are worked out.

Key admitted there were a number of reasons why if didn’t feel like the right time to give Brook the job, high among them would have been that the acting captain would have had to field questions about off-field discipline when it was his drunken exploits in New Zealand that began this narrative.

Round and round and round we spin.