5 Players who can lead England Test team

Over the last four years, we’ve seen a massive change in England cricket. The shift has been to be the best white-ball side in the world. The goal was the 2019 World Cup and they achieved that. However, there have been times where Test cricket has suffered because of the same. Hence, England have blown hot and cold quite a bit in the longest format. Alastair Cook stepped down from captaincy in early 2017. Joe Root has been at the helm since then. However, under his captaincy, England have won and lost almost equally. In 32 Test matches, he has led, England have won 16 and lost 13 while the other three have been draws. Moreover, under Root, England have failed to win two successive Ashes series. Hence, his position might be under threat. Moreover, Root has struggled with the bat as captain. His numbers show a big difference before and after taking over as captain. Thus, here we look at five players who can lead the England Test side. 1. Ben Stokes Ben Stokes. (Photo Source: Twitter) At the moment, Ben Stokes is at the peak of his powers. He was simply brilliant in the World Cup. He has been England’s best batsman in the Ashes and won them the Leeds Test single-handedly. Moreover, he gives it his all with the ball and in the field. Stokes has been England’s go-to man for quite some time now. He can walk into the side as a pure bowler and a pure batsman as well. Moreover, he was promoted as the Test vice-captain. However, he was at the same position two years back before the brawl in Bristol saw him miss a lot of cricket. England dearly missed him in his absence. The all-rounder’s absence from the XI saw England’s balance get affected big time across all formats. Hence, Stokes is almost invaluable to the side and is nearly undroppable. Thus, he can well lead the side and it may continue to improve his performances. 2. Stuart Broad Stuart Broad of England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) It’s been more than 13 years since Stuart Broad first stepped onto the field in an international game. However, very early in his career, he became one of England’s premier fast bowlers. He formed a fabulous partnership with England’s highest Test wicket-taker, James Anderson. Alongside Anderson, Broad went on to torment quite a few batting line-ups. In fact, he has a knack of running through sides in no time and turning games upside down. Hence, the Nottinghamshire fast bowler has led the attack really well over the years. However, he has never been considered for captaincy in Test cricket. Broad was the T20I skipper for almost three years, from 2011 to 2014. England have rarely had bowlers as captains in the longest format. However, with the Test team wobbling, it’s worth giving Broad the captaincy armband and let Root focus on his batting. 3. Jos Buttler Jos Buttler. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images,) Jos Buttler may not have had a great time in the recent past. He’s struggled with the bat. But he has been one of the consistent performers for England over the years. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been a regular in white-ball cricket. He was also England’s best batsman in Test cricket last year. In fact, since his return to Test cricket last year, no other England batsman has a better average than Buttler in the longest format. Moreover, Buttler has experience on his side. He has led England in the shorter formats in Eoin Morgan’s absence and has also done well. In fact, in the limited opportunities he’s got, Buttler has a better record as captain with the bat in ODI cricket. Also, the 29-year-old has a lot of cricket left in him. He could well be a good choice as captain in the longest format. In fact, it may well help him perform better too. Hence, Buttler could be a good option as well. 4. Jonny Bairstow Jonny Bairstow. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) If there’s one player who has changed quite a bit because of England’s white-ball revolution, it has to be Jonny Bairstow. The Yorkshire lad has become England’s enforcer at the top in white-ball cricket over the last couple of years. However, he has also been consistent in Test cricket for the last few years. He has blown hot and cold in the recent past but it also goes down to Bairstow’s batting position which is constantly tinkered. He’s batted all around the order and hasn’t had a fixed position for a while now. Meanwhile, his glovework has been good too. Moreover, keeping wickets helps him get a great view of the field and the game. Even now, Bairstow often helps with fields and other minor changes along with the DRS. Hence, he could be a decent choice as well as far as the England Test captaincy is concerned. 5. Rory Burns Rory Burns of Surrey. (Photo by Mitchell Gunn/Getty Images) This may be a surprising choice on this list. But Rory Burns’ value has grown quite a bit this summer. In the on-going Ashes, he has been the only opener who has scored runs consistently. He looks solid at the top and has shown the temperament to succeed at the international level. Burns has made it to the England side on the back of some big runs in domestic cricket. Also, for now, he seems the only constant in the top-order. Moreover, he has been leading the Surrey for more than a year now. In fact, he led his County side to the Division One title as well last year. Hence, Burns has captaincy experience and has tasted early success as well. Thus, he could be a dark horse and an underrated option as captain.

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5 Players who can lead England Test team

Under Root, England have failed to win two successive Ashes series.

4. Jonny Bairstow

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