Nasser Hussain has praised Joe Root's decision to scrap England's team curfew as he returns for a second spell as Test captain, though the former skipper admits he still has doubts about whether Root possesses the same instinctive feel for leadership that Ben Stokes brought to the role.
Root now holds the record for the most Test matches captained by an England player, with 65 to his name. His most recent outing in charge came during the second Test defeat to New Zealand earlier this summer, a game he took charge of after both Stokes and Gus Atkinson were suspended for breaching a curfew that had been brought in following the 4-1 Ashes defeat over the winter.
Speaking on the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Hussain backed Root's move to abolish that curfew ahead of the three-Test series against Pakistan, which is being shown live on Sky Sports.
"It's just a grown up decision, isn't it?"
"You've lost the team if you've got a curfew. You've got no control over your team."
"There's nothing good that happens with curfews because someone will end up breaking it."
"Just treat people like grown ups, and if they don't behave like grown ups, then the first thing you do is fine them, and then the second thing you do is leave them out."
"A professional sporting outfit shouldn't need a curfew, and it just shows how bad a place they were in that a curfew was put in."
"I'm really pleased that Joe has said 'no, enough of that nonsense'."
According to Sky Sports, Root himself has now confirmed there will be no curfew in place during the Pakistan series, telling his squad they need to "be adults" once off the field. He also reportedly said, according to Reuters, that the whole issue "doesn't need to be a big deal", framing it as simply part of how he intends to lead the group.
Root faces the task of turning around a side that has lost eight of its last 13 Test matches, a run that includes the 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand which brought the curtain down on the 'Bazball' era and prompted Stokes to retire from international cricket.
It is worth remembering that Root's first extended period as permanent captain also finished on a difficult note, with just a single win from his final 17 Tests in charge before he stood down from the role back in 2022.
"He was given the biggest of hospital passes [for the second Test against New Zealand] at The Oval. That was very recent, that wasn't four years ago, and it brought back some of the memories of Joe as a captain."
"For such a great player that has a feel for the tempo of a game, in that game at The Oval, he didn't have the feel of the game."
"He almost was trying to be a bit too Ben Stokes-ish, having men on the drive on a bouncy Oval pitch where balls were going behind."
"He doesn't quite have the feel of the game. And that's what I liked about Stokes' captaincy. He had a real feel for it."
"I'm pleased he's doing it, although I may have gone in the direction of Harry Brook, because I do see with Harry in white-ball cricket that he has a real feel for the game."
"He has an aura about him, but I understand the caveats of the schedule and all that sort of stuff."
Athers: Root genuinely excited by captaincy return
Despite serving as vice-captain, Brook was passed over for the role of stand-in skipper during that second Test against New Zealand at The Oval.
Given Brook's existing responsibilities leading England's white-ball teams, there may have been reluctance to load the 27-year-old with the full-time Test job as well, while a clash with a nightclub bouncer the night before an ODI against New Zealand last winter had already drawn plenty of criticism his way.
The decision to overlook Brook has continued to generate debate. Our earlier coverage detailed how Root looked set for the captaincy as Brook was overlooked, and Stokes himself later weighed in publicly, with our report explaining how Stokes questioned England's decision to snub Brook for the captaincy while also discussing the team's drinking culture.
Michael Atherton, who recently sat down with Root for an interview, explained the question he put to the new captain directly.
"I put to Root, 'are you doing this out of duty or real desire?'"
"Duty in the sense that there is really nobody else. Once they don't want Harry Brook to do it over three formats, where else do they go?"
"But I sense he's genuinely very excited by the opportunity. He feels as though he's got some ammunition there in terms of his faster bowlers."
"And I thought he trod a nice line between being loyal to what has gone before. He continues to speak very highly about Brendon McCullum."
"I think he genuinely felt McCullum was a good coach for him as a batter and a good coach for the team, albeit it ended badly."
"He was careful not to say he's going to throw everything out. He wants to take the bits of Bazball that worked but perhaps put his own stamp on it."
"I thought the most important thing that he said was that he's not going to look to try and impose a predetermined style on this team."
England have already made changes to their backroom staff to support this new era under Root. As we reported previously, Stephen Fleming has been appointed as England's Test coach alongside Root's return, with Marcus Trescothick taking on the interim head coach duties specifically for the Pakistan series. Wisden has also confirmed that this appointment marks Root's return to full-time Test captaincy.
England's squad for the series has also been affected by injury and selection news. According to our earlier report, Jacob Bethell has been ruled out of the Pakistan Test series, with Ollie Pope and Brydon Carse both recalled to the 16-man squad as a result.
What happens next
The first Test between England and Pakistan gets under way on Wednesday, 19 August 2026 at Headingley in Leeds, according to ESPN.
The series then moves to Lord's for the second Test, scheduled to run from 27 to 31 August 2026, before concluding at Edgbaston in Birmingham with the third Test from 9 to 13 September 2026, according to Wisden.
The three-match series also carries added significance beyond the immediate result, with every fixture forming part of the ICC World Test Championship cycle, as noted by LatestLY.
England vs Pakistan Test series fixtures
Watch the three-Test series between England and Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket from August 19. Stream cricket and more sport contract-free with NOW.
