ED: By the time this site went live, the decision had been made.
It has been widely reported that Joe Root may miss the first test match against the West Indies in July. Root has said that he will attend the birth of his second child, and I am certain most people would back him in making that decision. Of course, Michael Vaughan left a test match in 2004 for the same reason. Vaughan was lucky – the test match was at his home ground of Headingley, and had a clear second in command in Marcus Trescothick. Root is not so fortunate. He has to deal with the added complication of entering and leaving a COVID ‘biosecure bubble’. It is also not so clear who would take over.
Captaincy has been something of a problem for England in recent years. Since Graham Gooch was appointed England captain for the 1989/90 season, 12 people have offically ‘captained’ England in 1 or more test matches (this includes Allan Lamb, Mark Butcher, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff who were essentially stand in captains). Of those 12 only Lamb, Stewart, Hussain and Strauss had previously been ‘County Captains’ (and Hussain was only appointed Essex Captain in 1999 – the same season he was later to assume the England role). Prior experience as a county captain is not the only consideration when appointing a captain – consider that Eoin Morgan is England’s most successful One Day captain of all time and has never been the Middlesex ‘offical’ captain. However, prior experience would certainly help, and I certainly believe that both Alistair Cook and Root have suffered from a lack of prior experience. I also believe that Cook’s captaincy career ought to have been terminated earlier, but it was felt that no alternatives were available. Some, including myself, have expressed concern about Root as captain, but after the victorious South Africa tour I think those concerns have, for now at least, gone away.
The England vice captain is Ben Stokes. My own view is that Stokes’ earlier issues are not relevant here – since returning to the England team in 2018 he has done absolutely everything possible to make up for earlier indiscressions. I also think Ben Stokes is the right choice as vice captain. He has the ability to inspire and unite, but also is clearly tactically aware. Stokes will be a great sounding board for a captain and will not be afraid to challenge a captain. Good leaders always want to be challenged. But I must admit to being concerned about Stokes as captain.
My worries are based around what happened to 2 other charismatic allrounders when they were made England captains. Actually, both Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff were unfortunate. Botham came up against the mighty West Indians – seemingly endlessly – 9 of Botham’s test matches as captain were against the West Indies. The 1980/1 tour was particularly challenging both on and off the field. Flintoff came up against an Australian team in 2006/7 that were determined to avenge the 2005 Ashes loss. Flintoff also was handed a team minus Vaughan and Trescothick, while Giles and Harmison were shadows of their former selves. However, it has to be said that Botham never won a game as captain, and Flintoff only 2 out of 11, which included the 5 nill Ashes loss.
The effect of captaincy both on Botham and Flintoff was basically the same, though it manifested itself in different ways. Both felt constrained by the need to set the example and play to the situation, and therefore did not play their natural way. For Botham it let to a loss in confidence. Can you imagine Botham the captain in 1981 throwing his bat in the way he did at Headingly, or playing those remarkable hooks against Denis Lillee at Old Trafford? And would Botham have bowled himself in the Edgebaston test match of 1981? Mike Brearley suggested not. Flintoff wanted to do everything himself, and ended up bowling 68 overs in the first test match against Sri Lanka in 2006. Would Flintoff the captain in 2005 have been able to slog Shane Warne for 6 or play the famous ‘duck-hook’ that went for 6? Kevin Pietersen has also spoken about his own time as captain and an inability to play in his natural way.
Stokes is a different personality to Botham or Flintoff. As captain, I think his batting will be fine. Stokes played a number of incredible innings in 2019, but what was most impressive is the way he identifed a need to play in a particular way and stuck to that method. Both in the World Cup Final and in the Headingly test match of 2019, Stokes realised that he just could not get out – and even preferred to ensure a super over to risking getting out. However, in the Headingly test match, it was Stokes the bowler who made victory possible – by bowling 24 overs. Is he likely to do a Flintoff and bowl 60 overs? Stokes is also full of fire. In 2019 he was able to use this passion to achieve the incredible. Perhaps he has learned to control his emotions. As captain, you certainly need self control – something that Cook and Struss had in abundence.
When it comes to the great allrounders, perhaps the captaincy exception is Imran Khan. He sticks out as being the successful great all rounder and captain, culminating in victory in the 1992 world cup. I did not see a lot of Imran, but it seems to me that he had an ability to inspire others, without losing his own ability to play naturally. For Stokes, that is going to be the question. Can he play his natural game as captain?
So what do England do? Well, the decision has been made. Stokes will cover for Root if needed. I would prefer it if Stokes the captain could be avoided, and if Jos Buttler was guaranteed a place in the team he would be the perfect candidate. In reality though, he is not assured of a place. Rory Burns is not yet established enough in the team to captain it, and the only other realistic option would be Stuart Broad. Stokes will need his experienced players to back him, support him…and challenge him. The likes of Buttler, Moeen Ali (if playing), Broad and James Anderson need to give 100% support, but be willing to ask questions.
Longer term, England have just got to find a way for prospective leaders to get experience. Burns, Sibley, Buttler, Pope – they all need an opportunity to find out if they can be successful captains, preferably before any of them are asked to do it in a test match.
Ultimately, the only way to find out if Stokes the captain will work is to try it.
Cricketed 