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There is no doubt in Joe Root’s mind he remains the best man to lead England as they embark on their latest new era with today’s first Test against West Indies.
‘I would never do anything I didn’t think was best for this team,’ said Root as he prepared for what must be his last stand as captain.
‘If I thought it would impact negatively on the team I would not make the decision to carry on. I think I’m the right man for the role, the right man to take England forward. And as long as that’s the case I’ll be fully committed to it.’
There is no doubt in Joe Root’s mind he remains the best man to lead the England Test team
Root inspects the pitch with interim head coach Paul Collingwood in Antigua on Monday
They were defiant words from a captain who has now been in charge for five years, has seen his team win only one of their last 14 Tests and has just returned from a third Ashes series in charge, one he said would define his captaincy, without success. And one that has claimed just about every other senior decision maker in its wake.
So while the feeling persists that Root only escaped the post-Ashes cull that claimed Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood, Graham Thorpe and eight players because there simply was no-one else to become captain, the man himself is attempting to launch Joe Root the captain 2.0.
‘When I was weighing things up it would have been wrong to just commit to a short-term thing,’ said Root. ‘I’m very excited and energised and I’m grateful to get the opportunity to do this here. It’s a chance for all of us to prove a point.’
How England need to do just that here in a region where they have won just one Test series in the last 54 years. And they will attempt to prove it with what looks, despite all protestations to the contrary, like a ‘developmental’ England side.
Certainly Craig Overton, who today forms an unlikely new-ball partnership with Chris Woakes, Dan Lawrence and Jack Leach, set to play ahead of Saqib Mahmood, all seem to owe their places to a desire to find out once and for all whether they are Test quality.
Equally, England, rightly, seem determined to give an extended chance to Ben Foakes to prove he really is the best keeper in England and perhaps the world and a batter capable of coping with short-pitched West Indian fast bowling. For now at least Jonny Bairstow will not have to bring his keeping gloves to the ground.
England, rightly, seem determined to give an extended chance to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes
Then there is the latest batter tasked with filling the perennial problem position of opener, the 28-year-old Alex Lees making his debut alongside Zak Crawley in what looked like a well-suited partnership in the warm-up game here last week.
There is no question Lees has the orthodoxy England are crying out for after Dom Sibley, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed were all found wanting at the highest level because of quirks in their technique. The issue with Lees, perhaps, is that it has taken him time and a move from Yorkshire to Durham before he has acquired the temperament to go with it.
‘I played a lot of cricket with him as a young lad,’ said Root of Lees. ‘He has always been very talented, confident and assured in his own game. He would be the first to say he was too stubborn at times as a young player but I think the things he has done over the last couple of years at Durham have shown he has really matured.’
Alex Lees is the latest batter tasked with filling the perennial problem position of opener
If England still look vulnerable then West Indies are embarking on something of a red-ball re-set of their own under captain Kraigg Brathwaite. They certainly look stronger in bowling than batting, raising the possibility of short Tests here at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium and in Barbados and Grenada.
What England do have are two genuine world-class players in Root himself, committed also to batting at three, and Ben Stokes, who appears to be a man on a mission here after, in his own estimations, ‘letting everyone down’ in Australia.
‘I think he was being harsh on himself there, which you expect him to be,’ said Root of his loyal lieutenant. ‘That’s the sort of character he is but he’s never let me down. Look at the way he’s trained and you can see how focused he is. He’s very driven and he seems in a really good place at the minute.’
The problem will be ensuring Stokes in his quest to make up for lost Australian time does not rush back into his all-round role and bowls too much in this Test as he continues his recovery from a serious side strain.
Ben Stokes appears to be a man on a mission here after ‘letting everyone down’ in Australia
‘Managing the expectations on him, especially with where his body is currently at, is going to be very important,’ said Root. ‘We all expect Superman on the field but coming back from injury he might not necessarily be able to do some of the things he’s done previously. He might not have 10 over spells in him so we will have to be smart.’
The whole England team will need to be smart if this really is to be the start of England’s recovery from the rock bottom of Australia. If not it could well be another painful tour with a giant cloud in the form of the absent champions Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad hanging over them.
The pressure remains very much on England and their captain.
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