James Anderson Doesn't Want Ben Stokes To Become England Captain
Published - 11 Sep 2019, 12:03 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:01 AM
In the wake of Ashes debacle, questions are being raised on Joe Root’s captaincy. Australia have thoroughly outplayed England in the series to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series and retain the Ashes. Joe Root became the first England captain in 18 years to lose the Ashes at home. England had suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat in the last Ashes under Root’s captaincy.
Earlier this year, the Root-led side had also lost the Test series against West Indies. Root’s poor batting has not helped his cause either. In the ongoing Ashes, he has registered as many as three ducks. Unsurprisingly, there have been calls from several quarters to sack Root as the captain. In case, England decide to axe Root as captain, one of the most if not the most deserving candidate is allrounder Ben Stokes. The allrounder has been England’s standout performer this summer and is rarely failing to deliver nowadays.
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However, veteran pacer James Anderson has said that Ben Stokes should not be made Test captain. Anderson believes that his star teammate already “has enough on his plate”. Ahead of the final Ashes Test, Anderson insisted that Root is the man for the job.
The Yorkshire batsman, 28, has struggled with the bat – while his captaincy decisions have raised eyebrows at times during the tricky Ashes series.
“Joe Root has had three ducks. That’s a big difference right there because Joe is the one we look to score the bulk of our runs,” Anderson wrote in The Sun.
“There are some mutterings about Joe’s future as captain. But I think he is doing a very good job. We’ve had a couple of tough years, especially since Cooky retired and we’ve been trying to find a couple of opening batsman. We’re going in the right direction and I think Joe is the man to lead us forward,” he added.
He further wrote on why Ben Stokes should not be burdened with the captaincy role.
“Who could take over anyway? Ben Stokes is a leader in the group and is doing a fantastic job as vice-captain.
“But giving him the captaincy might be a step too far. He has enough on his plate as batsman, bowler, fielder and leader in all formats,” wrote the star pacer.
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Stokes has enjoyed a remarkable summer this year. A couple of months ago, he helped England win their first-ever World Cup. The allrounder was the Man of the Match in the final. In the ongoing Ashes, he has been Man of the Match in two of the four Tests.
