It was on Friday when Joe Root stepped down as England’s Test captain. It is to be noted that the Three Lions have been below-par in red-ball cricket for quite a while now. While they lost the Ashes 2021-22 by 0-4, they were defeated by West Indies. Earlier, even New Zealand beat them in a two-match Test series at home.
Besides, India currently leads the five-match Test series against England by 2-1 as well. Thus, the ECB need to appoint a new leader, who is capable enough to bring back the glory days of England. Michael Vaughan recently drew light on the same.
According to him, Ben Stokes should be England’s new red-ball skipper. In his column for Telegraph, the Englishman stated that the all-rounder has a great cricket brain. Vaughan also praised the match-winner’s will to succeed.
“Yes, Stokes has limited experience as a captain. However, if you have a presence and a sense of the game, this isn’t always necessary. You have no notion what someone will be like when they take over the role. But, as you can see when he bats, he has a fantastic cricket mind. And he has a remarkable will to succeed,” said Michael Vaughan.
The 47-year-old wasn’t the only one to feel the same as Nasir Hussain also felt that Stokes was the ideal player to lead England in the longest format of the game. He stated that the 30-year-old will be respected by his teammates. While speaking to BBC, the English legend felt that Stokes is going to give everything.
“I don’t see anyone else who could take the position and be guaranteed of their place in the side. 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,” said Nasir Hussain. Last but not the least, even Michael Atherton felt that Ben Stokes should be England’s next Test captain.
“You’ve got to pick somebody who is worth his place in the side. I think the days are long gone where you could have a Mike Brearley-type figure, who wouldn’t necessarily be a first-choice pick. Just because of the scrutiny, you need to be worth your place in the side, so Ben Stokes is the obvious candidate,” said Michael Atherton, as quoted by Sky Sports.
