Joe Root has scrapped the team curfew that landed his predecessor Ben Stokes in hot water, and Nasser Hussain reckons it was the right call - even if he still has doubts about whether Root possesses the same instinctive feel for captaincy that Stokes brought to the role.
Root now holds the record for the most England Test captaincy appearances with 65, the latest of which came during the second Test defeat to New Zealand earlier this summer. That match was overseen in unusual circumstances after Stokes and Gus Atkinson were both suspended for breaching a team curfew that had been brought in following the 4-1 Ashes hammering over the winter.
Speaking on the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Hussain welcomed Root's decision to do away with that curfew ahead of the three-Test series against Pakistan, which gets under way on Wednesday and will be 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 the BBC, Root has officially confirmed the midnight curfew is being ditched for the Pakistan series, telling the squad that England will instead police its own standards internally. The Guardian reports that the relaxed approach isn't confined to the Test set-up either, with the same policy now extending to England's white-ball sides under the current regime. Sky Sports also reported that an ECB statement confirmed the curfew "will no longer be in place", with players expected to understand what is required of them once they assemble for the series, according to Sky Sports.
Root's immediate challenge is reviving an England 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 also prompted Stokes' retirement from international cricket.
It's worth noting that Root's first spell in permanent charge also petered out badly, with just a single win from his final 17 Tests before he stood down as captain back in 2022.
Hussain questions Root's feel for the game
Hussain pointed to that recent Oval Test as evidence that Root can sometimes struggle with the tactical instincts that came so naturally to Stokes.
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.
Brook, England's vice-captain, was overlooked for the top job for that second Test against New Zealand at The Oval. Given his existing white-ball captaincy responsibilities, there appears to have been a reluctance to load the 27-year-old with the full-time Test role too, particularly after his altercation with a nightclub bouncer the night before an ODI against New Zealand last winter attracted plenty of criticism.
This tension over the captaincy hasn't gone away quietly. Stokes has since questioned England's decision to overlook Brook for the Test captaincy in a wide-ranging podcast interview, in which he also opened up on the team's drinking culture. That intervention came after reports first emerged that Root was set for a second stint as England captain despite Stokes' strong backing for Brook as his eventual successor.
Atherton: Root is genuinely excited by the return
Michael Atherton, who recently sat down with Root for an interview, suggested the returning captain's motivation goes beyond simply feeling obliged to take the job.
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.
Root's return to the captaincy has already come with fresh backroom support. England previously appointed Stephen Fleming as Test coach alongside confirming Root's reappointment, with Marcus Trescothick stepping in as interim head coach for the Pakistan series. Sky Sports has reported separately that Root's first series back in charge is being overseen jointly with Fleming as the new permanent head coach, following Sky Sports' coverage of Brendon McCullum's departure.
The squad itself has also been shaped by fresh selection news. England confirmed that Jacob Bethell will miss the Pakistan series through injury, with Ollie Pope and Brydon Carse recalled to the 16-man squad as Root looks to rebuild his side.
What happens next
The first Test against Pakistan gets under way at Headingley on 19 August 2026. The series then moves to Lord's for the second Test on 27 August, before concluding at Edgbaston on 9 September, according to Sky Sports. The whole series will be shown live on Sky Sports Cricket, with coverage available to stream contract-free via NOW.
