NASSET HUSSAIN: Stokes must show his brilliance again as a player

At the beginning of the summer, England needed a change of culture and needed Ben Stokes the captain.

Right now, though, 1-0 down to South Africa with two Tests to play, they need Stokes the player to return.

I have been mightily impressed with him, especially in those first four games against New Zealand and India.

Sure, it is very easy to praise a captain when they win all four, but it has been his tactical decisions that have impressed me most.

After two or three years of dressing room thinking that was scrambled for a variety of reasons, his vision has been refreshingly clear and has taken away the fear of failure.

The decisions he made and the fields he set, the way he used Jack Leach in an attacking manner and neglected the temptation to put men back all the time, were eye-catching.

And even though watching him in the World Cup final and 2019 Ashes suggested this very smart cricketer would be like this as captain, until the individual does the job, you do not know exactly what they are going to be like.

However, turning around his contribution as a top-six player is paramount.

He has not made a half-century since his second week in the job in June.

The one thing I will say about how he has batted in this period is that he is obviously trying to set the tone for the new culture of the team.

But the words of Keith Fletcher, the former England coach and a former Essex captain, have stuck with me from when I was handed the Test captaincy.

It was a brilliant job, Fletcher said, but an even better one if you are contributing personally with runs and fulfilling your main role for the team.

With Stokes, one of England’s greatest ever all-rounders, this feels doubly important. If I were to advise him anything, it would be