Brendon McCullum knows a thing or two about Test captaincy — and when he took over as England’s coach, he thought Ben Stokes, already in post, would be a good fit.
But Stokes, says McCullum, has “exceeded my expectations” in the “early days” of his captaincy, and surely most of us would agree.
We knew Stokes had a sharp tactical mind and he was obviously a brilliant cricketer, but the way he has spoken, as a statesman in public and with an arm around the shoulder in private, has opened a few eyes.
McCullum added, though, that timing is everything, as it always is in cricket. “I think the timing of him getting the captaincy is perfect,” he said.
Stokes was in no position to take the England captaincy after the winter’s Ashes series, which, with the head coach and director of cricket fired, felt the natural end of Joe Root’s stint in charge, too.
By then, he had already had more Tests as captain (61) than any other Englishman, and more wins (27) and defeats (25), too. He would add a final defeat in Grenada, where England plumbed a new low.
In the last months of his captaincy, Root looked around the dressing room exasperated. He was frustrated that in 15 Tests in 2021, England had scored just seven centuries — and six had come from his bat (they already have 11 from five different batters this year).
And even as a man whose defining characteristic is his sense of duty, he would have been frustrated that there was no obvious leadership candidate. He shouldered the Caribbean tour and was outwardly as sunny as he could be, but when he returned — with one win in his last 17 Tests — and found the job weighing on day-to-day tasks at home, he knew his time was up.
What he had seen from Stokes, his great friend, in the Caribbean was that he was ready, too. Stokes had turned up much physically fitter in Antigua than he had in Australia, and the mental health issues that kept him out last summer were further behind him. He had found some form, too.
That Caribbean tour will contribute heavily to Root’s legacy as captain — and not in a good way. Even though he scored a pair of fine centuries on that trip, that short Test in Grenada was bleak and a sign of the overhaul required.
Root, himself, made mistakes, mainly with selection, where he was both too radical (he was involved in the decision to omit James Anderson and Stuart Broad) and too conservative, in failing to twin Matt Parkinson with fellow spinner Jack Leach on flat pitches.
Perhaps in time we will look at Root’s leadership of that tour as a selfless act in a time of flux. He could easily have washed his hands of the job, and it might well have gone even worse.
Instead, he waited until a viable candidate emerged, and allowed him to get on with the job. An official new captain starting with an interim head coach and MD would not have worked.
The change has been made at a better time for both men, and it is neat that Root won player of the series in Stokes’s first in charge. Jonny Bairstow was unlucky to miss out, but the pyrotechnics of Nottingham and Leeds would not have been possible without Root’s masterful innings at Lord’s.
Many will say Root hung on too long. In fact, he did England a favour staying as long as he did
He played defining hands in the last two Tests, finishing with a Bradmanian series average of 99. Only Bairstow’s belligerence could deny him a hundred in each Test. He will not mind a jot.
Root has looked a man refreshed. The only time that smile left his face was when he dropped a catch in Leeds. “I love batting and to be able to just solely focus on that,” he said, when collecting his gong a day later. “It’s been quite a ride, so much fun, really enjoyable.”
Root must look at the new era and have regrets, but a Stokes captaincy would not have worked in the bio-secure bubble years, either. This movement is all based on a freedom that was simply not possible then, an environment that put too much strain on Root’s captaincy.
It is simplistic, too, to suggest that Root should have just encouraged to attack like Stokes has; this is only working because of Stokes’s instincts and nerve. Many will say Root hung on too long. In fact, he did England a favour staying as long as he did.
