Michael Atherton says England must weigh up the potential risk to their Ashes chances if they hand Ben Stokes the captaincy in one-day international cricket.

England men’s managing director Rob Key suggested the Test skipper was a candidate to lead in the 50-over game following Jos Buttler’s resignation from both white-ball roles after the chastening group-stage exit at the Champions Trophy.

Stokes has transformed England’s red-ball side alongside Brendon McCullum since 2022 when the pair took over a team that had won one of their previous 17 matches.

However, the all-rounder has suffered two serious hamstring injuries of late, after a long period dealing with a chronic knee issue, and Atherton is mindful of Stokes’ workload ahead of an era-defining Test series in Australia from November.

Athers: England won’t win Ashes without Stokes as captain

Former England captain Atherton told Sky Sports News: “There is no doubting that Stokes is the outstanding captain, the outstanding leader, in English cricket.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is around his fitness as he has had pretty severe hamstring injuries and struggled to get through the cricket he has been asked to play.

“In the end, the Key-McCullum-Stokes project is going to be defined by the 10 Tests this year – five against India at home and then the Ashes away.

“A lot of the structures they have put in place have been designed to get that side right for the Ashes so that is the question.

“It’s what you are losing if he gets injured and can’t captain against India and Australia because without Stokes captaining in Australia, I don’t think England will win.”

Key: Stokes one of best captains I’ve ever seen

Speaking earlier this week, Key told reporters: “I think nothing’s off the table [in terms of the England captaincy]. You look at every single option and you think, ‘what is the best thing to do?’

“Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen, so it’d be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means.

“He’s an unbelievably good tactician, which we’ve seen in Test cricket, but he’s a leader of men. He’s someone who gets the best out of people.

“He’s someone that, when the pressure is really on, he’s able to throw a blanket around the players and actually say, ‘no, no, this is the way forward. Keep going with it’.

“We don’t want to risk other things as well. But there’s always a way in England, I think, where you start looking at, ‘what if it goes wrong?’

“You’ve also got to think, ‘what if it goes right?’. They’re the decisions that I have to make.”