Former cricketer and renowned commentator Nasser Hussain backed Harry Brook to replace Jos Buttler as England's white-ball captain following their early exit from the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025, underway until March 9.
Buttler, who led England to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup glory in 2022, has now lost three major tournaments as the captain and had hinted after his team's group-stage exit from the ongoing eight-team tournament that he would decide his captaincy future.
The 34-year-old, however, has now officially announced to step down as England's white-ball captain earlier today.
Meanwhile, Hussain, while citing Buttler's previous statement, picked Brook as the next England's white-ball captain, noting that there are not many options for the former World Cup winners due to the lack of domestic 50-over cricket.
"Harry Brook would be my choice as England's next limited-overs captain now it's clearly time to move on from Jos Buttler. If you're having to think about being England captain, as Buttler said he would be after Champions Trophy elimination earlier this week, you probably know you're done," Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
"The truth is though that as far as future leaders go, the cupboard is pretty bare and some of that is simply because not enough domestic 50-over cricket is being played," Hussain added.
Nasser Hussain also highlighted the 'issues' associated with Harry Brook's appointment as England's white-ball captain, citing their busy Test calendar, featuring important series against India and arch-rivals Australia.
The former England captain believes the responsibility may result in an added burden for the 26-year-old.
"And there would be issues with appointing Brook. Namely whether, in such an important year that includes a home Test series against India and ends with the Ashes, you want to pass on all the burdens associated with leading a struggling side onto a young man and make his life a bit more difficult as a result.
"England are trying to go in a direction where they're playing a lot of their Test players in the limited-overs sides. Do they want that with the captain as well? That is another question. The months ahead are very important in red-ball cricket and that would be something to consider if Brook took over."
Notably, Brook has been serving as Buttler's deputy since January this year but the right-handed batter struggled with the added responsibility as he managed to score just one half-century in his last 10 white-ball games.
"I enjoyed watching him captain last year, whether it be in the Hundred or against Australia, when he got a hundred in one of the games – which suggested he was quite happy balancing the two roles. But you've still got to be careful. You don't want to be weighing down a very talented young player with it all," Hussain concluded.
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