Harry Brook backed for England captaincy by Nasser Hussain following Jos Buttler’s resignation | Cricket News

Nasser Hussain backed Harry Brook to replace Jos Buttler “as soon as possible” if England want him to become their next white-ball captain.

Buttler resigned as England white-ball captain after their group-stage exit in the ICC Champions Trophy, having lost 22 of his 34 one-day internationals as permanent skipper since succeeding Eoin Morgan in 2022.

Middle-order batter Brook is the outstanding candidate to take over as one of the few players seemingly guaranteed a spot in England’s 50-over and 20-over teams.

“Harry Brook is the obvious candidate to take over. He did it at the end of the summer against Australia,” said former England Test captain Hussain.

“He’s the obvious one with the amount of important cricket coming up for England. Do you want to put that pressure on a young man who’s got an India series at home, an Ashes away and then a World Cup T20 in India and Sri Lanka? Or do you go to a stop gap, James Vince, Sam Billings, Lewis Gregory, seasoned, domestic, franchise captains to just do it for a while?

“I think personally England don’t look back, they look forward. If they think Brook is the next captain, they go to him as soon as possible so he can start learning about being captain. But obviously the caveat is then there will be a lot on his plate.”

England’s early exit at the Champions Trophy followed poor showings at both the 2023 50-over World Cup, where they were also knocked out in the group stage, and the 2024 T20 World Cup, where a semi-final run papered over the cracks.

Hussain, who was England’s Test captain between 1999 and 2003, thinks outgoing captain Buttler needs to “get back to being a world-class player.”

“It’s always very sad when an England captain has to feel like he has to stand down and he was incredibly emotional walking out,” he added.

“It’s the best job in the world until you have to give it away and for one more day he’s England’s white-ball captain and the next day he’s not. I can tell you that really hurts you. It’s the best job in cricket.

“It’s the right thing to do. His own form has diminished since he’s been captain, especially in the last couple of years. He’s England’s best white-ball player and the captaincy is not that good that it balances off the runs he should be getting.

“Also, the results have gone against him. The last three world events, the 50-over and T20 World Cups and this tournament, the results haven’t been great. So a combination of that, results not being good, form not being good.

Atherton asses England’s next options

England have two Test series to come in 2025, at home against India in the summer live on Sky Sports, before The Ashes at the end of the year.

Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton agreed with Hussain that Brook is the favourite but England’s decision depends on whether the multi-format player would have too much to do.

“They have two ways to go. They either go with somebody who’s in the side now, certain of his place, like Harry Brook who is the vice-captain, has done it before at the end of the season, and did it very well against Australia,” he explained.

“The problem with Brook is that he’s a multi-format player. He plays Test cricket, T20s, ODIs. England’s schedule, although it’s easing a little bit with fewer Test matches this year, I think that makes it tricky.

“The other route they could go is to go for somebody slightly outside of the multi-format approach, like Sam Billings, James Vince or Sam Curran. I’m not going to give you a name because I really don’t know.

“It’s really the direction. At the moment, what’s happening is that they’re bringing the red-ball and white-ball teams closer together.

“I actually think with the scheduling they need to be pushing them further apart. You’re going to have a core of players who are across formats – Brook being one, Joe Root – these outstanding players who are good in all formats but I also think given the schedule, you need to have a distinct separation between red-ball and white-ball teams as well.”

ICC Champions Trophy 2025 – results and fixtures 🏏

Group A

Group B

Semi-finals

• March 4: Semi-final – A1 v B2 (Dubai)
• March 5: Semi-final 2 – A2 v B1 (Lahore)

Final

• March 9: Final (Lahore or Dubai)

Watch every match from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, up to and including the final on March 9, live on Sky Sports, or stream with NOW.