Rob Key has refused to rule out an Ashes return for Ben Stokes next summer, claiming: ‘Anything is possible.’It was typical of Stokes’ show-stealing ability that on the morning that England director of cricket Key was at Lord’s explaining his decision to reappoint Joe Root as Test captain under new coach Stephen Fleming that a sensational international retirement u-turn was being floated.Since calling time on his international career at the end of June, Stokes has slipped back into life with Durham and been the subject of an approach by Sydney Sixers to play in Australia’s Big Bash League.Suspicion remains down under, however, that despite Stokes insisting he will be watching England v Australia matches from hospitality boxes next summer, he will at the age of 36 be back for one last hurrah against the old enemy. Even Australia coach Andrew McDonald spoke of the ‘fairytale’ of ‘one more Ashes’ earlier this week.Asked if there had been a change of heart, Key said: ‘It would be a brilliant story if he does. He hasn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Anything is possible with Ben.’It will potentially be a future conversation for Fleming, whose first involvement with England will be in selection for the first Test against Pakistan on August 19, but whose work on the ground here will not commence until the following month. Ben Stokes could reverse his decision to retire from international cricket ahead of the Ashes England’s director of cricket Rob Key has stressed that ‘anything is possible’ for the ex-captainIdentified by England director of cricket Rob Key as the man to haul the Test team out of its current malaise, Fleming was appointed in the knowledge that pre-existing family commitments prevented him from being in place immediately, meaning his first direct involvement will not be for several weeks.A firm arrival date is yet to be confirmed, but it will coincide with the third Test at Edgbaston between September 9-13 at the earliest. If his first Test in charge is in South Africa next winter, he will have only one on home soil – against Bangladesh next May – ahead of Australia’s arrival.‘My job, I believe, is to get the best person to do the job. And it wasn’t a stipulation for any of the candidates that you had to be there for Pakistan. Had that been the case, that would have limited the field drastically,’ Key said.‘It was about trying to get the best person to do that. A month ago, this was probably not on a lot of people’s radar, certainly myself, Stephen Fleming, as well. In life, you have a lot of things that you have to do that have been planned a long way in advance.’Fleming, 53, has never coached in first-class cricket before, having spent 18 months with Chennai Super Kings, and their spin-off franchises in South Africa and the United States, in addition to two seasons with Southern Brave in the Hundred.‘He has worked with the best players in the world. We’ve seen he’s up to speed with where the game’s at. You don’t lose that experience that you have in Test cricket, that you gain as a player, and, more importantly, as a captain,’ argued Key.‘I’ve never met anyone who said a bad word about his leadership in Test cricket. I think all of those things put into the mix. I’m as optimistic as ever, really, that we’ve got the best people to take English cricket forward.’Key also dismissed any notion that after four years of Fleming’s fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum in charge, this was a juncture for an English coach to be appointed, saying: ‘I think it’s preferable to have the best coach.’Adding of Fleming: ‘He knows English cricket really well. He’s been close to it. He’s obviously played in it. He has a huge amount of love and respect for the county game, in particular, what it did for him as a player, and for his development.‘So as much as he’ll be over in September, he’s already sort of very much in the weeds of it all.’Root quit the captaincy four years ago saying the job had impacted negatively on his life away from the game, particularly through the Covid period of 2020-22, but enjoyed deputising for Stokes in the second Test against New Zealand this summer and was keen to add to his England record 65 caps in charge.‘Those two, Fleming and Root will be a great complementary pairing to take English cricket forward. He’s our best ever batter. Our great cricketer, that can actually now have a chance to captain the side without any of the stuff he had to deal with last time. I’m just so glad that he gets that chance,’ Key reflected, adding that Harry Brook’s time would come further down the line. Former New Zealand cricketer Stephen Fleming has been named Brendon McCullum’s successor, with Joe Root as his captain‘He’s still developing as a player and as a person, to be honest. The Test match captaincy is the biggest job in cricket in England, and I think that it’s perfect now with Joe who gets the chance to do it where he can now take this ship forward as the most senior player by a long, long way and Harry can now continue on the project he’s done in the white-ball job and continue learning how to become an outstanding leader of a cricket team.‘You’ve got the 2027 World Cup, all of those things, and at some stage Harry Brook will be an outstanding Test captain of England cricket. I just didn’t feel the time was right now.’Whether Key will still be around to make the appointment remains to be seen, having survived a post-Ashes review in January.So, after losing 4-1 to Australia, did he feel lucky to keep his job? Did he fear the sack? Consider his own position?‘I think all of the above. This is a job where you’re constantly under pressure all the time. There’s uncertainty in it all the time. That’s part of being in this role. How close I came (to being sacked), I don’t know. How close I came myself, what I was thinking, I obviously know. But it’s been a good few months – and even before that – where you’re constantly thinking: are you the right person? What is the thing you’ve got to do? Are you the person to put that in place? I believe I am, but that’s for the people above me to decide all the time.’