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Former England skipper Michael Vaughan believes all-rounder Ben Stokes should replace Joe Root as England Test captain.

Root ended his five-year tenure as the Test skipper on Friday, stating the job had taken a heavy toll on him recently after the teams poor performance in Ashes and the Caribbean series.

"I don't see anyone else who could take the position and be guaranteed of their place in the side," Vaughan said.

"In Ben Stokes you have clearly got someone who has got a smart cricket brain, he's going to give it everything, he is certainly going to have the respect of the players around him,"

Stokes took a break from cricket in July for his mental wellbeing but returned to the England squad for the Ashes series.

The all-rounder has not been training after suffering pain in his left knee during England's tour of the West Indies in March but he is hoping to make a return to county side Durham next month.

"Stokes is everything in a person and a player that you would want but he will need a lot of support around him because when you have got that all-rounder tag and they've got that persona that they think they can do everything," he added.

Former captain Nasser Hussain said Stokes was "naturally gifted" but England would have to be sure he can cope with the demands of the role.

"You have to be in a good place mentally and physically to do the job — and Ben has had his problems away from the field," Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column.

"Whoever the new director of cricket is, the first thing they must do is ... sit down with Stokes, look him in the eye and find out where he is," Hussain said.