Joe Root led by example and with empathy, and was a strong England captain - Chris Waters

IT COMES to them all in the end.
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After five successive series defeats and amid increasing outside pressure, Joe Root yesterday stepped down as England men’s Test captain after five years in the role.

The Yorkshireman can look back with pride on having achieved the most wins (27) of any England captain, putting him one ahead of Michael Vaughan, his mentor, who was among those who thought that his race was run.

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The poisoned chalice will now pass to Ben Stokes, if the rumours are to be believed, amid a glaring lack of viable alternatives.

Joe Root has stepped down as England men’s Test captain, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced. I(Picture: Jason O'Brien/PA Wire)Joe Root has stepped down as England men’s Test captain, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced. I(Picture: Jason O'Brien/PA Wire)
Joe Root has stepped down as England men’s Test captain, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced. I(Picture: Jason O'Brien/PA Wire)

Had there been any, Root – who led England 64 times, more than anyone else – might have gone before now after a run of just one win in 17 Tests, a dire record for a side so heavily resourced as England.

At the same time, this is not a time for criticism but for praising Root’s contribution in a demanding job.

This correspondent, for what it is worth, was among those who thought that he was still the best person for it: not because he was a natural successor to the fabled Mike Brearley, say – far from it – but because there was no one obviously better or more suited from the candidates available.

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Let us hope that it was Root’s decision – and Root’s alone – to call time. However, it was outside pressure, oh that it worked so successfully on the likes of our beloved Prime Minister, a man who could learn much from Root’s ambassadorial skills and personal integrity.

England captain Joe Root at Headingley in 2017 before his first Test as England captain (Picture: PA)England captain Joe Root at Headingley in 2017 before his first Test as England captain (Picture: PA)
England captain Joe Root at Headingley in 2017 before his first Test as England captain (Picture: PA)

Root was never – and will never be remembered as a great captain.

Rather, he led by example as a player and as an empathetic leader and team-mate.

He was not a great tactician, a person who pulled off masterstrokes of strategy and selection that left spectators and pundits agog.

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But he was a strong captain with fine strength of character – that much is clear by the fact that he continued to score runs so heavily in a losing cause – and he did not have the raft of great players to work with that the likes of Vaughan possessed: not for nothing is it commonly held that a captain is only as good as his team.

England's captain Joe Root reacts after the Australia's victory in the third Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England in Melbourne on December 28 (Picture: Getty Images)England's captain Joe Root reacts after the Australia's victory in the third Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England in Melbourne on December 28 (Picture: Getty Images)
England's captain Joe Root reacts after the Australia's victory in the third Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England in Melbourne on December 28 (Picture: Getty Images)

Nor should Root’s recent record mask the success of his earlier years.

Indeed, after replacing Sir Alastair Cook in 2017, Root led England to a number of famous triumphs, including a 4-1 home victory over India in 2018 and a 3-1 win in South Africa in 2020.

Also in 2018, Root became the first England men’s captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001, a feat he repeated with a 2-0 triumph last year.

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Ashes success remained maddeningly elusive – the benchmark by which many a captain is judged – not least Vaughan himself, who is forever recalled for the events of 2005.

But as Darren Gough, the Yorkshire interim managing director of cricket, pointed out yesterday, the best captain that he played under was Nasser Hussain, who never won an Ashes series either.

The observation was moot.

In the aftermath of England’s most recent defeat, a 1-0 setback in the West Indies, a defiant Root insisted that he wanted to stay on.

However, with several former England captains having called for him to go, describing his position as unsustainable, the 31-year-old yesterday bowed to the prevailing clamour.

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“It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career, but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me, I know the timing is right,” he said.

“I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride.

“It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket.

“I have loved leading my country but recently it’s hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game.”

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Root departs the captaincy – but not the playing stage – as England’s second-highest Test run-scorer behind Cook, with 9,889 at 49.19.

Tom Harrison, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, paid tribute to a man who has also hit 25 Test centuries, 14 as captain. “Joe has been an exceptional role model, balancing the demands of Test captaincy while continuing to shine brilliantly through his own personal performances,” said Harrison.

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