Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes England’s new Test leader will try to convince Ben Stokes to come out of retirement for the Ashes.
Less than 12 months out from cricket’s most famous rivalry being renewed in England, Stokes decided to walk away from the international game.
His bombshell retirement — coming during the third and deciding Test against New Zealand — led to the end of Bazball, with Brendon McCullum sacked soon after as England’s red-ball coach.
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With McCullum only in charge of England’s white-ball team, a new Test coach, with a different philosophy, could appeal to Stokes.
Former England coach Andy Flower has already ruled himself out of contention to do the job again, while Australians Justin Langer and Tom Moody have been floated as possible replacements.
Stokes has played two 50-over games for Durham since his final Test on June 29.
“The fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes and builds a lot of hype on the way in,” McDonald told SEN on Wednesday.
“If you’re looking at promoting that series, that’s probably the angle that you would want, that he comes out of retirement.
“To me, he’s still got a lot of good cricket left in him.
“It’ll be a fascinating watch.
“Whoever the new head coach that comes in potentially has a conversation with him.
“We don’t know why Ben left, I don’t think there’s been anything on the record around the definitive reason as to why.
“He may have just called it a day on Test cricket and that’s it, so there might be a full stop there.
“Or there might be an opportunity for that new head coach to potentially twist his arm and bring him back in.
“But if it ends now, he’s had a wonderful career in terms of what he’s brought to the game, his impact in certain innings and moments in time.
“It will age pretty well for him to look back on.”
Stokes played in just one winning Ashes series — back in 2015 — during his 122-Test career.
England haven’t held the urn since Australia secured a comprehensive 4-0 win during the 2017-18 summer.
Australia will be battle-hardened before the Ashes begins at Trent Bridge on June 18, 2027.
McDonald is preparing his experienced squad for two Top End Tests against Bangladesh, starting on August 13 in Darwin.
In a bumper schedule, Australia will head to South Africa in October for the first time since Sandpapergate.
This summer’s home Tests will be against New Zealand, before jetting off to India for five matches for the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Australia will face England in a one-off Test before the Ashes, playing a 150th anniversary match at the MCG in March.
McDonald was adamant Australia will continue picking the strongest XI for every Test during this busy period.
