Harry Brook has admitted succeeding Ben Stokes as England’s Test captain would be an “honour”, but the white-ball skipper remains in the dark as to whether the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will ask him to take up the role.Stokes retired from international cricket during the third Test against New Zealand, which concluded on Monday as the tourists claimed the series 2-1, after four years captaining the national team. Brook, the Test vice-captain, was appointed white-ball captain last year and has made a positive impression in both one-day-international (ODI and T20I cricket.“I don’t know yet but, look, it would be a great honour to do it,” Brook told reporters at a pre-match press conference in Durham on the eve of his side’s T20I against India. “It would be a privilege to captain England in the highest format of our game, the pinnacle.“Playing Test cricket is the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and it’s a dream, something I’ve always wanted to do since I could speak. So, look, it’s not up to me, that decision. But if I got offered it, I’d be happy to take it.”The ECB have time to consider their options with England not due to play Test cricket again until August, when Pakistan visit for a three-match series. But they decided against asking the 27-year-old to lead the team in the second Test earlier this month, a game Stokes missed while the ECB and the independent Cricket Regulator investigated an incident in a Chelsea nightclub after the side’s victory at Lord’s.Instead, they asked Joe Root to stand in on an interim basis given that Brook had been involved in a nightclub incident of his own, which ended with him being punched by a bouncer in Wellington the night before he led England in an ODI last October.Asked whether he had been disappointed to be overlooked as captain for that game at the Oval, Brook backed the ECB’s decision.“I think the decision that was made was the right one,” he said. “Making Rooty captain that week was definitely the right decision. He’s always been there for the ECB. He’s been a stalwart for English cricket. He is, in my opinion, the best batter to have ever played Test cricket. The ECB needed him that week as well, and he stepped up.“My job that was week was just to try and help in as much as possible. There were lots of conversations. Obviously we were at first and second slip, so we were always chatting about how we could have an effect on the game. I definitely think the ECB made the right decision.”Brook went into the game at Trent Bridge No 2 in the world behind Root in the ICC’s batting rankings and has scored 3,395 runs in 38 Tests at an average of 53.04. His last century was in the fifth Test against India at the Oval last July.Harry Brook undertook a lengthy net session at Durham on Tuesday (Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)He defended his skittish innings of 21 on the fourth evening of the match, a nine-ball knock which ended with him being caught on the fine-leg boundary — “In hindsight, I could have got the field out and knocked it for one, but I was well into trying to take them on” — but still finished that game with a ringing endorsement of his captaincy credentials from the outgoing skipper.“There’s a reason why he was asked to be vice-captain of this team,” Stokes told reporters. “I know that with all the controversy over the last couple of weeks, there were some decisions that were made, but those were decisions that I wasn’t part of making. I was vice-captain under Joe for a long time and it’s a natural progression. If the captain’s not there or unavailable, then he had to do that. So there’s absolutely no reason why Harry shouldn’t (take on the role).“He’s someone who’s obviously an incredible player, one of the more senior players in this group, but we all know he’s a phenomenally talented individual when it comes to his skills as a batter. And if you love a bit more responsibility on the shoulders with this team, we don’t know if that’s going to show any more improvement in the skills that he’s already got.“Only time will tell, but you don’t ask someone to be vice-captain if you don’t think that they’ve got the skills and the ability to be able to captain the team when they need to.“So if I was to be asked who I think should do it, I’m throwing my support 100 per cent behind Harry Brook.”Whether the ECB would be comfortable having one captain across all formats, with a 50-over World Cup to follow the Ashes series in England next summer, remains to be seen. Brook admitted leading the teams in red-ball as well as white-ball cricket would be “tough”.“But everything’s tough in cricket,” he added. “It’s a hard sport. Look, I’ve committed completely to England cricket. I’ve said I don’t want to play any franchise cricket barring The Hundred given everything I want to do is play cricket for England. And whatever I do, on and off the field, is to try and perform as well as I can possibly can for England. Hence the reason I don’t play in the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League, and all the other franchise competitions.“Everybody knows I like going out there and trying to be fearless, and putting the pressure back on the opposition, and that’s something I’d have to think about further down the line if (the chance to captain the Test team) was to arise. But, like I said before, that decision is not up to me.“I love working with Baz (England’s coach, Brendon McCullum, who fulfils that role across all formats). He’s a great bloke and an unbelievable coach as well. Some of the things he’s taught me throughout my career, giving us the opportunity to go out there to play in the style that he and Stokesy wanted us to play… I think that suited me to a tee to start with.“And then it’s just about trying to evolve as much as a player, and take some of those learnings from the past and act on them in games.”Harry Brook (right) learned from Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)India, whose T20I team arrived in the north east after losing 2-0 to Ireland in Belfast, will take on an England side without Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue on Wednesday. There is the chance the visitors’ prodigiously talented 15-year-old batter Vaibhav Souryavanshi is offered his senior debut. He would become the youngest player to represent India if selected.“I was playing academy cricket for Yorkshire in the league (as a 15-year-old),” said Brook of Sooryavanshi, who finished as the IPL’s leading run scorer in the 2026 tournament earlier this year. “He looks like a very, very talented player. Obviously he’s done extremely well in the last year and a half. We’ve got our tactics and hopefully they work.“There’s been a lot of digging behind the scenes to see what we can do to try and stop them from playing their best cricket.”