Calls for Root’s resignation intensify after England’s crushing defeat in Grenada Test

Following England’s humiliating loss in the recently concluded series-decider against the West Indies in Grenada, the former English captains, Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain, and Michael Vaughan, have called for an immediate change in the leadership citing many significant drawbacks of Joe Root’s qualities as a red-ball skipper. While Atherton has thrown light on England’s horrible record in the last 17 Tests, Hussain and Vaughan have focused on Root’s inability to bring out the best from his players and his tactical shortcomings on the field.

In his Times column, Atherton has termed England’s performance in the last 17 Tests as ‘shocking’ and asked Root not to take his position for granted. He has further added that Root should’ve stepped down after the Ashes debacle as he has run out of new means to motivate his players. 

“Root’s captaincy is untenable, and he must surely know it deep down. His team have now gone five series without victory and have only won one Test in the past 17, a shocking run for a team so well resourced”, Atherton wrote. “Root has reached the end of the road as captain. There simply comes a time when a captain has nothing new to say, no new methods of motivating his players and a different voice or different style is required”, the former England opener further added. 

Adding fuel to the fire, Nasser Hussain also criticised Root’s decision of dropping James Anderson and Stuart Broad prior to the West Indies series and opined that the English captain lacks that instinctive feel for the game. He also stressed that Root picked ’10 yes men’ going into the series, a move that totally backfired. 

Writing in the Daily Mail, Hussain said, “Root is a world-class batsman and a very likeable lad but I feel he has never had that instinctive feel for the game as captain. It’s such a cop-out to leave out people who are perhaps difficult to manage and pick a team of 10 yes men and yourself.” 

The former English skipper also suggested the name of Ben Stokes as Root’s successor, only if the southpaw finds himself physically and mentally fit to perform the role. 

“If Joe doesn’t decide to step down himself the decision should be taken out of his hands. Then the new coach should sit down with Ben Stokes and ask him where he is off the field mentally and where he is with his game. If the coach likes what he hears from him then Stokes should get the job”, Hussain further wrote. 

On the other hand, Michael Vaughan has brought Root’s tactical deficiencies to the notice by stating his inability to guide the team properly in crunch situations. 

“It happened in Grenada, it happened endlessly in Australia and many times last summer. It has been a consistent trend that when England have been put under pressure on Joe’s watch, they haven’t been able to cope. When they have to win an hour, they lose it. We are not going to miss his runs because he will keep scoring those. Are we going to miss his tactics in the middle? No”, Vaughan wrote for the Daily Telegraph.  

Meanwhile, Root himself has insisted that he is eager to take the current English side forward in Test cricket by continuing as the skipper. He even argued that they, as a group, have done many positive things that need to be turned into good results.  

“I think I’ve made it quite clear at the start of this game and throughout this tour, I’m very passionate about trying to take this team forward”, Root said while speaking to BT sports after the game. “I feel like the group are very much behind me. We’re doing a lot of really good things. We just need to turn that into results”, the England captain concluded.