Stuart Broad says Joe Root would be sensible pick as England's next Test captain
Sunday 12 February 2017 08:24, UK
Stuart Broad has backed Joe Root to take over from Alastair Cook as England Test captain.
Root, Broad and all-rounder Ben Stokes are believed to be the leading contenders to replace Cook, who stepped down from the role earlier this month.
And Broad, who received an MBE for his services to cricket at Buckingham Palace this week, feels it would be the right decision to offer the job to one of his younger team-mates.
But the 30-year-old re-iterated his previous comment that he would never reject the chance to captain his country if the England and Wales Cricket Board instead offered the role to him.
"I can't imagine a scenario where a professional sportsman would turn down the chance to captain their country if the offer was made, and I'm no different," Broad wrote in his column for the Mail on Sunday.
"But for me, it feels time for the next generation to be given that responsibility. I'm more than happy to be a strong senior player who helps guide that evolution.
"For me, in the best interests of the team in the medium and long term, I believe a younger modern-day captain is the way to go.
"Joe Root looks like just the man for the job for me. He's not had a lot of captaincy experience so he will have to learn on the job, but he wouldn't be the first England captain to have to do that.
"The whole point of having a new captain is so they can bring a different type of energy and ideas to the group. Joe is the best player in the team and he's in a position where his game can cope with the pressures of captaining England.
"He's played all three formats and coped really well and I don't see why that would be affected by the captaincy.
"Yes, you have to attend more meetings and you're involved in more conversations about injuries, form and players' welfare. But that shouldn't be a reason to miss certain games I wouldn't have thought."
