(Cricket news) Joe Root on friday announced his decision to step down as England Test captain after 5 years of leading the team. The decision comes after England lost the West Indies tour 1-0. The England cricket team is going through a major overhaul as coach Chris Silverwood was sacked after the Ashes tour and managing director Ashley Giles also stepped down from his role.
Root took over as England captain in February 2017 after Alistair Cook's resignation. He scored a century against South Africa at Lord's to become the first England player to score a ton on his captaincy debut. His personal form after initially dropping with the captaincy gradually increased and towards the end were phenomenal. Root holds the record for most matches as England captain. His tenure was a complete mixed bag in terms of team performance and development. The 2-0 series win away at Sri Lanka was his last as a captain. England lost to India away after which they trailed 2-1 to India with 1 postponed Test match left to play.
The Ashes series down under was a major blow as England lost 4-0 against Australia and not one match was a close contest. The West Indies series was supposed to start a revamp and comeback. Senior bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad were dropped from the squad. Things got worse after England lost the West Indies series that too without a win. Root's personal form during the last year or so was incredible as he won the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year award. The team has been underperforming which does call for a change.
The change however wasn't necessarily in captaincy as the system of England cricket is flawed. England's county system has come under a lot of scrutiny for a number of things. Recent videos of Alistair Cook and Rory Burns bowling has infuriated the English fans about the condition of the domestic tournament. County cricket needs to go through some changes like schedule and pitch quality to begin with. The good thing about Root's resignation is that he can now concentrate on his batting and perhaps try to make a comeback into the limited overs squad.
Root hasn't played a white ball game for England since July 2021 and now that he doesn't have the burden of captaincy, he could eye a comeback. Root was a great ODI batter a few years ago and it's not like he cannot cope with the format. Ben Stokes, who was Root's deputy, is likely to take over as the captain. Stokes is definitely committed as he decided to not take part in the IPL to concentrate on red ball cricket for England. Up next, England play a 3 match Test series against New Zealand before playing the last Test against India.
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