Lying down as he plans Test comeback
The Wasps star cannot see beyond his England pal for the prestigious job of skippering the Lions in New Zealand.
He feels Hartley, 31, is the perfect inspirational character to help the squad succeed in this summer’s three-Test series against the world champions.
The Lions coach appeared to stick the boot into the Northampton man’s hopes of getting the job when he spoke highly of England reserve hooker Jamie George and the other contenders, Ireland’s Rory Best and Wales’ Ken Owens.
Gatland is expected to name his skipper when he announces his touring squad on April 19 with Kiwi-born Hartley desperate to get the nod.
And Haskell (right) is backing the man who led England to 18 straight wins before last weekend’s heartbreaking Grand Slam loss in Dublin.
The flanker said: “There is no better man than Dylan to do it. He has outstanding credentials and would be a great choice.
“I’ve learned a lot from watching how Dylan does things off the field, both with Northampton and England. He has been outstanding in motivating the guys and maintaining t he standards expected of all of them.
“If the Lions are looking for a real strong, determined leader to help them win a series in New Zealand then Dylan is your man.
“We’ve all seen what a fantastic job he has done with England and his performances have been very good as well.” Haskell is keeping his the Yorkshire captaincy was a huge privilege and honour. It’s going to be an exciting challenge and hopefully a successful one.
“I know if I score runs for the county it will put me back in the England frame.
“There is plenty of competition now but I am confident I can make a few big scores for Yorkshire and want to start the new season well.”
Former England captain Alastair Cook was keen to give Ballance as much time as possible to prove his Test class. And the same will go for the new skipper, his old housemate Joe Root, who will also hope his Yorkshire team-mate will bounce back to form with early runs. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has urged the youngsters competing for England places to follow his example and take their game to the next level. The England all-rounder, 25, said: “We’ve got players coming through like Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett, they are going to look to me the way I looked at players when I came in.
“I watched how they trained – Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Alastair Cook – and I knew from doing that why it went well for them.
“I want the players to know why it goes well for me, to know it comes back to how hard I train.”