Former England captain Nasser Hussain said he would have been more supportive of Ben Stokes following the recent nightclub incident.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and independent Cricket Regulator launched an investigation after Stokes and Gus Atkinson were involved in an altercation with a Saracens rugby player while celebrating a first-Test win over New Zealand at Lord’s.
Their visit also breached a midnight curfew introduced amid criticism of England’s professionalism and apparent drinking culture in the wake of a crushing Ashes defeat.
Stokes and Atkinson subsequently sat out the second Test at the Oval, which England lost by 253 runs, but will both return for the third and deciding Test at Trent Bridge.
Hussain calls for balance
“It’s not easy because it’s a difficult balance to strike, but I would have backed my captain a little bit more, if I’m perfectly honest,” Hussain told Sky Sports.
“Obviously they were cross, they were frustrated, angered, but personally I would have backed my captain.
“He’s been through some really difficult times, he’s been through a difficult Ashes series, he’s been through a facial injury.
“I’m not condoning anything he’s done in any way – I said it was unacceptable, breaking your own curfew.
“But that captain has shown a lot of emotional intelligence with a lot of people in that team who have, at times, messed up either off the field or on the field.
“Ben Stokes has been the first one to put his arm around people in that team.
“I just think with what Ben has done for this cricket team over time, I would have liked someone just to go: ‘you know what, he’s got it wrong, there’s an investigation going on, but he is my captain’.”
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Stokes backed as captain
Reflecting on how the ECB found themselves in such a mess, Hussain added: “Firstly, curfews are a nonsense. You’ve lost the team if you’ve got to have a curfew.
“Secondly, a complete ban on alcohol? What happened to the days where you just knew when was the time to have a drink and when wasn’t?
“There’s been a lot of nonsense. You lose the plot in weeks like this. Just keep it very simple.
“Is Stokes still your best captain? Yes, he’s one of the best captains I’ve seen lead this England side.
“Does he get in the side still? A little bit debatable recently, but as we see with the balance of the side, if you don’t have Stokes, it becomes a bit complicated.
“And the third – and the most important – thing: does Ben Stokes still want to do the job?
“This job, the captaincy, drains you more than anything else in cricket. Has he still got the energy to do it?
“It smacks you between the eyes when you know that you cannot do the England captaincy any more. You’ve got no energy.
“It happened to me, it happened to [Michael] Atherton, it happened to [Michael] Vaughan, it happened to [Andrew] Strauss and eventually it’ll happen to Stokes.
“Get rid of the nonsense, talk crystal-clear conversations and pose the questions I’ve just asked.”
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