"Had to come in and change not just the culture, but the results" - Nasser Hussain showers praise on Ben Stokes' captaincy
Former England captain Nasser Hussain praised current skipper Ben Stokes for transforming the Test side in terms of culture and on-field results.
Despite trailing 1-2 in the ongoing Ashes series, the star all-rounder has reversed England's fortunes in the red-ball format since taking over mid-last year. In combination with head coach Brendon McCullum, England have adopted an attacking playing style similar to their brand of cricket in the white-ball formats.
The results have been equally astonishing, with England winning 11 of their 13 Tests under the new captain-coach partnership before the current Ashes series.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain stated that contrary to Pat Cummins, Stokes had to do quite the opposite and make England more hard-nosed and tough-minded.
"Ben Stokes faced another kind of challenge — England were a likeable team under Joe Root and Chris Silverwood, but they went into a downward spiral. Stokes had to come in and change not just the culture, but the results," said Hussain.
The former England skipper also praised Stokes for keeping up his word at all times and playing an aggressive brand of cricket.
"And he has done that very well: 12 wins out of 17, with a rainy draw that would probably have been another win, and margins of defeat that include one run and two wickets. And Stokes has been true to his word, because England have continued to attack," added Hussain.
After trailing 1-2 at home against India, England suffered a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Australia in the 2021/22 Ashes series down under. However, the ultimate disgrace was the series loss to the lowly West Indies in early 2022, resulting in the management replacing Joe Root with Stokes as captain.
Since taking over, the 32-year-old has led England to series wins over New Zealand and South Africa at home. He also captained the side to a sensational 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in Pakistan, followed by a 1-1 drawn series in New Zealand earlier this year.
"I would not have declared at Edgbaston" - Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain felt that despite being largely impressive, Ben Stokes made a few debatable calls as captain, including his premature declaration in the opening Test of the Ashes at Edgbaston.
With the hosts steamrolling at 393/8 on the opening day of the series and Joe Root rollicking on 118*, the England skipper pulled the trigger and declared the innings to have a go at the Aussie openers late on Day 1. As England went down by two wickets in the game, several experts questioned Stokes' decision to declare with Root still batting on an unbeaten century.
However, Hussain admitted that everyone would have hailed the declaration had the plan come off with England removing one of the openers.
"You can argue with a couple of his decisions. I would not have declared at Edgbaston, for example, but there was a sound cricketing reason to do so: if Stuart Broad had nicked off David Warner that evening, Stokes would have looked like a genius. And they were only in the position to declare because they had batted aggressively," said Hussain.
The former captain maintained Stokes deserves praise for his leadership despite the side lacking killer instinct in the opening two Tests.
"England should have been more ruthless in the first two Tests, but for the distance his side have travelled under his leadership, I give Stokes the edge over Cummins," concluded Hussain.
Although the hosts have come a long way under his captaincy, Stokes will be wary of the backlash that comes with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Australia at home. The final Test of the already enthralling Ashes series gets underway at the Oval on Thursday, July 27.