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Nasser Hussain believes England players are ‘scared of crossing’ Ben Stokes because he’s not their ‘best-friend’, which is one of the things that make him a great captain.
Ben Stokes will aim for England to get the new WTC cycle off to a good start (Picture Credit: AFP)
Nasser Hussain has likened England men’s Test captain Ben Stokes to the legendary Mike Brearley, saying the all-rounder has got the ‘balance right’ in his leadership and ticks ‘pretty much’ every box.
His comments come on the eve of the five-Test Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where England are hosting India for five Tests. The series will begin with the opening clash in Headingley on June 20. It’ll be followed by another crucial series — the Ashes away in Australia at the end of the year.
Hussain, while warning Stokes to keep his team measured and smart in their willingness to ‘entertain’ in this phase, hailed him as the soul of the team. The former skipper said Stokes has ‘great emotional intelligence’ where most players are his friends who want to ‘play for him’, but added that he’s not anyone’s ‘best-friend’, which also makes the teammates ‘scared of crossing him’ and not putting in efforts.
“Very few captains tick every box, but Stokes pretty much does,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “A bit like Mike Brearley, he has great emotional intelligence. People want to play for him and he gets that balance right in his dressing-room relationships. Great leaders talk about being a friend to other players, but not their best friend. Stokes gets that pretty much spot-on. He is the players’ friend, but they’re scared of crossing him because he’s not their best friend and he will call them out if they haven’t pulled their weight.”
Hussain said England are a much ‘poorer’ team without Stokes, urging him to not over-bowl himself and be at the ‘front and centre’ of the team against India.
“Tactically, he has great nous, and he leads from the front. Sometimes too much. At times he’s over-bowled himself, and if he gets injured, England are a much poorer side without him. If they are going to beat India and Australia, England need Stokes to be front and centre with his own contributions, and how he could do with rediscovering his form of 2019 with the bat. Like the great cricketers who came before him, the onus is on Stokes to perform in iconic Test series like these,” Hussain added.
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