When England take the field to take on South Africa in the four-match home Test series, all eyes will be on England’s newest Test skipper, Joe Root. Having negligible captaincy experience in the past, Root’s ascendency to the throne surprised a few individuals in England, as former T20I skipper and senior pacer Stuart Broad was considered for the esteemed position. With Root set to begin his Test career against the world’s second-ranked Test outfit, he surely will be under some pump.
Former England captain and Joe Root’s Yorkshire senior pro-Michael Vaughan has some advice for England’s batting beast. In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan has advised Root to know his players better. In his article, the former England captain writes at length about knowing your true strengths and assets within the setup quite well, as it makes things easier going into the future.
“Joe Root will be nervous this week and will quickly realise that now he is captain team-mates that have been friends for years will treat him slightly differently,” wrote Vaughan. Vaughan, a vocal supporter of Root, was stern in maintaining that to succeed, it was essential to be an efficient man manager.
“He is the leader now. He has more power. Players will know they have to be slightly different around him. I would advise him not to say much, just deliver short, clear and precise messages to stamp his own authority on the side and let them know what he expects from them as people,” Vaughan wrote.
“What does he want them to achieve? What are their roles? He has had months to find out more about every single player in the team and I hope he has done his homework in that time. As a captain, you have to know the individuals you are managing. You might think you know them when your are a fellow player. But you don’t really,” he concluded.