Stuart Broad A Better Choice Of Captain Than Joe Root, Says Graeme Swann
Feb 9, 2017 at 1:44 PM
In the quest to pick the next Test captain for England, many current and former players have voiced their preferred choices, and now former spinner Graeme Swann has joined the race too. Asking Stuart Broad to succeed Alastair Cook as the captain, Swann has removed Joe Root from the contention list saying the Yorkshire batsman can perform much better without the burden of captaincy.
Earlier, Australian fast-bowler Jason Gillespie backed Joe Root to captain England saying he has got the temperament to lead the side without hampering his good run-of-form with bat. However, Swann, having played alongside both the likely contenders for the vacant post said, ‘I think I’m the only person in the world who says no to Joe Root as England captain. If it was down to me right now I’d give Stuart Broad the job.’
Speaking to Daily Mirror, Swann said Joe Root has curtailed his flamboyance as the batsman in order to prove that he has it in him to be the captain. He added such an outlook isn’t natural to Root and that it is affecting his numbers as a batsman.
“I think Joe is growing into a more mature player and he is trying to be more serious and trying to prove to everyone that he’s got the character to be captain. But I think it is actually affecting his batting already and he’s not the cheeky, dynamic, ‘joie de vivre’-type player that he was two or three years ago. He’s not scoring the same huge amount of runs, he’s being consistent, but I think he’s just lost a little bit in trying to be this captain material and I really worry.”
The off-spinner, who represented England in 60 Tests, said ECB should leave Joe Root to battle for the best batsman spot in the world and need not overload him with burden of captaincy.
“I think we should leave Joe Root to be the best batsman this country has ever produced which he would be without the burden of being the captain. I wish they would leave him alone.”
Earlier, Andrew Strauss, ECB’s director of cricket said Root isn’t the immediate choice for the captaincy post and that the name will be out before England’s tour of the West Indies in March.