Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged Joe Root to consider his own future in charge of the team, following a humiliating loss to the West Indies.
After drawing the first two Tests, the hosts cruised to a 10-wicket win in Grenada, to claim the third, and the series.
Root’s ability as a batter has never been questioned – but criticisms of several aspects of his captaincy have lingered since a very frustrating Ashes series.
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Vaughan said that it was time for a change.
“Ultimately we have to ask how much worse will England be if Joe Root is no longer the captain? What are we going to miss? 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,” he wrote in his column in the UK Telegraph.
“I just look at him as a human being. It is hard being England captain. It drains the life out of you. My advice is: do not just carry on because it is the greatest honour of your life to lead your country.”
Root recently passed Alastair Cook to become England’s longest-tenured captain, and has both the most wins and losses as skipper.
But the team has struggled mightily throughout 2021 and 2022. After winning their first three Tests of last year, they’ve won just one from 17 since, losing 11 and drawing five.
“This England side for too long under Joe have been allowed to get away with being weak and lacking resilience,” Vaughan said.
“There is a soft centre to this England Test match team.”
Root notched over 1700 Test runs last year, in one of the greatest individual calendar years ever – the main issue was that Rory Burns (530) was the only other English bat to outscore ‘Extras’ by year’s end.
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“Joe has not been helped by individuals in the team,” Vaughan said.
“They have not improved themselves. They have got worse. But Joe takes responsibility for that as captain, he knows that in his own mind.
“Now he has to decide whether it is time for someone else to bear that burden.”
Who would take over from Root isn’t clear, with Ben Stokes the only real contender that makes sense – other senior players such as James Anderson and Stuart Broad are coming to the end of their careers, while nobody else in the team can be assured of a spot long-term.
Vaughan said he knew in 2008 that his time was up.
“As England captain you just know when your race is run.
“Joe has to ask himself if he has the energy to drive himself for the next year and a half. Are the team listening? The evidence suggests not.”