Comeback king
Root seals dramatic win with century – and admits captaincy had become ‘unhealthy’
Joe Root admitted he had been liberated by giving up the England captaincy, after his brilliant 115 secured a thrilling five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first Test.
Root’s 26th Test century hauled England from a perilous 69 for four to their fourth-innings target of 277 – the third-highest run chase at Lord’s – in his first game back in the ranks after resigning the captaincy in April. It was England’s first Test win in 10 attempts, and marked a triumphant start for new captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon Mccullum.
Following the 1-0 series defeat in the West Indies in March, Root had said he wanted to carry on as Test captain. But he changed his mind after returning home, and acknowledged the role had taken a toll.
“It had become a very unhealthy relationship, the captaincy and me,” Root admitted. “It started to take a bad toll on my own personal health. I couldn’t leave it at the ground any more, it was coming home.
“It wasn’t fair on my family, on people close to me, and it wasn’t fair on myself. I had thrown everything at it, and I was determined to help turn this team around, but I realised over that time at home that it would have to be in a different way.
“I was unaware of how much it was grabbing hold of me, and I just needed to make the decision. I felt like a big weight had been lifted and I immediately felt a lot better.
“As hard as it was, obviously it’s been a huge privilege and something I’m extremely proud to have done, but it’s time for a new phase in my career.
“I’m proud of the way I did the role. I’ll do anything I can to help England win Test matches and be a side people enjoy watching and can be proud of. It got to the stage where it was time for someone else to lead that, but I can try to influence it in a different way.”
Root’s century also took him to
10,000 runs in Test cricket – a landmark he reached at the same age as Alastair Cook, 31 years and 157 days – with former England captain Michael Vaughan hailing him as “England’s most complete all-round batter of all time”.
An emotional Root said that he was ecstatic that his personal achievements had come in an England
victory. “It was very special to get the hundred and reach 10,000 runs, but nothing replicates winning games of cricket,” he said.
“Of course it meant a huge amount, when you walk through the dressing room or the Long Room and you’re high-fiving the rest of the group and you can see the genuine joy and elation on their faces. That’s the one thing that I’ve missed the most, I suppose, over the last year and a bit – and one thing I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot more of hopefully this summer.”
England needed only 13.5 overs to score the 61 runs they needed on the fourth morning, meaning that ticket-holders at Lord’s got a full refund. Root said that the way in which England secured their victory was in keeping with the positive approach the side wished to adopt under Stokes and Mccullum.
“This is almost like a clean start,” he said. “The way that we’re looking at this as a dressing room, we have to leave what’s happened before.”
After the help he received from Stokes during his Test captaincy, Root said it was extra satisfying to mark his friend’s first Test as fulltime captain with a victory. “It’s my turn now. That’s a great motivator for me moving forward, with the amount of amazing things Ben did for this team under my leadership.”
Stokes said he was thrilled to begin his stint as captain with a victory, and stressed that the side would not become more conservative when they suffered bad results.
“There’s obviously going to be ups and downs and it’s just about dealing with that,” he said. “I take a lot of how Eoin Morgan led the oneday side in 2015 when he took over – how he spoke when things didn’t go well. It was always, ‘If anything, we’re going to be more positive’.”
As his recovery from concussion continues, Jack Leach is unlikely to play in the second Test at Trent Bridge, which starts on Friday. Matt Parkinson, who made his debut as a concussion substitute for Leach, is likely to play.
Thrilled: Ben Stokes says England will always play positively after marking his first Test as full-time captain with a victory