Give Jonny Bairstow the captaincy and another crack at the Aussies - Chris Waters

The move would make sense on a number of levels, allowing Harry Brook and Joe Root to focus on their batting and Jacob Bethell, the other internal candidate mentioned in dispatches, to concentrate on becoming an established Test player first and foremost, unencumbered by the demands of leadership at this stage.

Bairstow would have the respect of Brook and Root, his Yorkshire team-mates, the rest of the players and the general public as one of England’s finest cricketers.

There would be continuity of sorts in terms of his Stokes-like approach and his vast experience of international cricket, giving the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) breathing space and a bridge between past and future with no obvious long-term replacement at hand.

At 36, Bairstow is clearly no spring chicken but nor does he require the services of Age UK.

He is less than 21 months older than Stokes, in fact, who spent his final hours as an international cricketer rebuffing suggestions – almost desperate pleas – that he might yet come out of retirement to play in the Ashes next year.

Bairstow made his last Test appearance just over two years ago but is still scoring runs for Yorkshire, keeping wicket impressively and has captained the club for a year and a half, adding to that considerable bank of expertise.

With Jamie Smith not exactly pulling up trees behind the stumps either, he could take the pressure off the Surrey man who could potentially play as an out-and-out batsman if necessary. Another box ticked, another problem solved.

It is commonly held that you should do what the opposition least wants you to do, and the Aussies would – or at least should – be wary of an England team led by Bairstow next summer with yet another point to prove.

It is no secret that he disagreed with the decision to put him out to pasture and as recently as Yorkshire’s pre-season media day in March cited England’s lack of “care” when players are out of the set-up.

Asked then about his chances of a recall, his response was suitably sardonic. “Judging by the last few years, I am not sure it is on their agenda,” he said, adding that “it will be an interesting question for you to pose to them if I do go out and score a couple of hundreds”.

Bairstow hit a fine hundred against Surrey just a few weeks ago and followed it up with a pair of 60s against Warwickshire, strong attacks both. His T20 form – although hardly germane – has also been good, with a match-winning 83 at Notts and 73 at home to Lancashire; he is Yorkshire’s leading run-scorer in this year’s Vitality Blast.

Bairstow has fought back well from the serious leg injury in 2022 from which the loss of his England place can no doubt be traced.

But his Test contributions remained solid from that point if not spectacular (he still averaged over 30) and the overall ledger reads 6,042 Test runs at 36.39 with 12 hundreds to go with 256 dismissals.

Stokes, from 22 more appearances and by way of comparison, scored 7,273 runs at 34.46 with 14 hundreds to go with 252 wickets. Not a huge amount of difference between them, you could say.

Like Stokes, with whom he shared some of English cricket’s most memorable moments, Bairstow is a man for a challenge and the grandest of stages. It would not take much imagination to picture him next year with his chest puffed out, determination oozing from every pore, leading England into battle against the old enemy, galvanizing team-mates and the public at large.

There are important Tests before then, of course, starting with the three-match series against Pakistan that begins at his home ground of Headingley in August. Time to bed in and get accustomed to the role; time to stamp his “bluey-print”, if you will, before Australia come calling.

One Stokes-like aspect of Bairstow’s captaincy is the empathy he shows with his players on the field. It has been noticeable, watching from afar, that he seems good with them instinctively, geeing them up at the right times, cajoling and consoling, while always demanding the highest standards.

Whether Brook is the long-term future as Test captain, or Bethell, or AN Other is unclear at this stage; there will be those who advocate others currently out of the side such as Ollie Pope.

But for Stokes-like spirit and the ability to “sock it” to opponents, with the Titanic fast sinking and more icebergs looming, no candidate better fits the job description than the Yorkshire skipper.