There was no beating around the bush from Ben Stokes.
Unshackled after his final Test, perhaps no longer required to meticulously consider what he tells the public, the retiring Stokes made it clear who he thinks should succeed him as England captain.
"If I was asked who I think should do it, I would be throwing my 100 per cent support behind Harry Brook," Stokes said.
Brook, England's vice-captain, was overlooked for the captaincy for the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval in the aftermath of the nightclub incident that saw Stokes stood down.
The England hierarchy turned to former Test captain Joe Root on that occasion, but Stokes believes the "phenomenally talented" Brook is his natural successor.
"There's a reason why he was asked to be vice-captain of this team," Stokes added.
"I know with all the controversy of the last couple of weeks there were some decisions that were made, but those were decisions that I wasn't part of making.
"You're asked to be vice-captain of a team for a certain reason. I was vice-captain under Joe for a long time. It's the natural progression. If the captain is not there or unavailable, then you step up to be that.
"There's absolutely no reason why Harry shouldn't be asked to do that. He's an incredible player, one of the more senior players in this group - we all know he's a phenomenally talented individual when it comes to his skill as a batter.
"If you lump a bit more responsibility on his shoulders with this team, we don't know if that's going to show any more improvement in the skills he's already got. Only time will tell.
"But you don't ask someone to be vice-captain if you don't think they've got the skills or the ability to captain the team when they need to."
Brendon McCullum has been performing the dual role of head coach to England's Test and white-ball teams since January 2025.
McCullum, who appointed Brook as captain of England's white-ball sides in April 2025, was asked whether Stokes' replacement should perform the roles across all formats.
"Those are conversations we need to have in due course," McCullum said.
"We've got a few weeks until the next Test series [vs Pakistan from August 19]. We've got time to sit down and map out what that looks like.
"We've got strong leaders in the side and options to utilise. They won't be Ben Stokes, who was very much his own type of leader, one we all adored.
"There will need to be some work put in there but that is just the nature of things.
"No one can play or captain forever. We want to celebrate Stokes' captaincy and career, in time we will start to think about decisions."
Former England captain Nasser Hussain accepts Brook is a natural fit to work alongside McCullum as Test captain, but has warned of the added pressure given their white-ball commitments.
"It really depends what happens with the hierarchy at the top," Hussain said. "If you are going to continue with [managing director Rob] Key and McCullum, then Brook fits that perfectly.
"You can imagine the style of play with McCullum - it will be on the positive side. If that is the way you go, then I would go with Brook, but that puts a lot of workload on Brook, as it does McCullum.
"Michael Atherton feels it puts too much on McCullum. You can't have him across the board doing everything.
"If they move on from the coach and director of cricket and go down a different path, with an old-style coach, then you will get an old-style captain. They have to fit together; they have to sing off the same hymnsheet."
New Zealand win three-match series 2-1
