Joe Root’s future as England captain is on the line over the remainder of the Ashes series, according to former Australian skippers Mark Taylor and Ian Chappell.
Root has led England in more than half his Test matches – 58 of 111 – since taking over in 2017.
With 27 wins he’s the most successful English captain of all time, and in Melbourne he will equal Alastair Cook’s record of 59 matches in charge.
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But Root’s captaincy record in Australia makes for dismal reading – six losses and one draw from seven matches – while Australia retained the Ashes in England in 2019, another black mark against the English skipper.
Of major concern is the size of the losses on this tour, with England totally outplayed in both matches to date.
Taylor and Chappell agreed that Root’s time could be up at the end of this series, but both identified England’s greatest problem – the lack of an obvious successor as skipper.
“It would be hard for him to continue, if this continues on, and maybe Joe won’t even want to,” Taylor said on Nine’s Outside the Rope.
“Once again, it’s like Marcus Harris for Australia, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got a replacement.
“Joe Root’s captaincy credentials, they look OK, 27 wins from 58, that’s not bad. 50 per cent win ratio is a very good ratio for a Test match captain.
“But you’ve got to say, ‘OK Joe, do you want to keep doing it?’
“If they keep playing the way they’re playing I suspect he’d probably say no.”
Ben Stokes is the vice-captain, and one of the few players in the team certain of keeping his spot.
But as the team’s best player, and an all-rounder, he already has plenty on his plate.
England would no doubt have reservations about handing the captaincy to Stokes, perhaps remembering the ill-fated experiment with Andrew Flintoff 15 years ago, which culminated in a 5-0 Ashes thrashing in 2006-07.
“Ben Stokes is the obvious candidate,” Taylor said.
“But bear in mind Ben’s just had six months off for mental leave, he’s had his injuries as well. Do you want to inflict the captaincy, if that’s the right way of putting it, on Ben Stokes?
“He’s the guy you’re going to be looking for to not only take useful wickets, not only take great catches, but make some runs also.
“He’s got a lot in his camp to do as a player. To make him captain may not be something he needs, and not in the best interests of English cricket.”
Chappell agreed that Stokes’ aggressive mindset and inspirational play would make him an ideal candidate, but acknowledged he already has a heavy workload.
“If you look through that team list, Ben Stokes is the only name that comes up as an option if you’re going to drop Joe Root,” he said.
“There are certain players that you shouldn’t make captain.
“It’s going to weigh them down. Alastair Cook wasn’t a captain in my book, and it weighed him down. You’ve got to get guys who are buoyed by the job.
“Pat Cummins to me is going to be buoyed by the job, he looks forward to it.
“I don’t think Joe likes the job, but I think he likes the rewards that come with being England captain. But you go through that list, there’s only one name you can come up with.
“If Ben Stokes says, ‘Mate, I don’t want to know about it,’ well where do you go from there? Send up a prayer.”
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