Nasser Hussain names his next England white-ball captain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has stated that it's time for England to move on from Jos Buttler as captain. This came after England crashed out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after losing their first two matches in the tournament to Australia and Afghanistan.

Buttler acknowledged that after the Champions Trophy loss, he would have to evaluate his role as captain. 

In his Daily Mail piece, Hussain supported Harry Brook for the position because he believed it was time to leave Buttler behind. The former captain acknowledged that there aren't many options available right now, though.

"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.

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 wrote in the Daily Mail.

Jos Buttler led England to the 2022 T20 World Cup win in Australia but couldn’t make it into the 2023 World Cup knockouts and was defeated by India in the semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Nasser Hussain highlights issues with Harry Brook as England captain

As captain of the team for the series against Australia last year, Brook has experience guiding England in ODIs. The main problem with selecting Brook, Hussain noted, is that he is a regular in the Test team, and England has a full calendar this year for red-ball cricket.

Hussain said that England needed to make sure they weren't placing too much pressure on a young player.

"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 to a young man and make his life a bit more difficult as a result.

England is 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,” Hussain added.

"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.

England plays their final match of the Champions Trophy against South Africa on March 1.

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