Root says ‘I won’t quit England captaincy’
JOE Root insists he has no intention of walking away as England captain despite the West Indies delivering another damaging blow to his leadership.
Back in January, Root recommitted himself to the job after a 4-0 thrashing in the Ashes and declared himself the best man to lead the team into a new era.
But that chapter has veered off course at the first turn after the tourists were beaten by 10 wickets in the series decider in Grenada.
With two largely positive draws under their belt in Antigua and Barbados, England came unstuck at the pivotal moment as a meagre second-innings total of 120 all out left the hosts chasing just 28 to secure the newly minted Richards-Botham
Trophy.
The statistics are trending in a dispiriting direction for Root, who has now overseen just one win in his last 17
Tests and has failed to take a series in his past five attempts.
After five years and a record 64 games in charge, the Yorkshireman’s future may ultimately lie with two people who have yet to be appointed - the incoming director of cricket and the next Test coach - but his own desire remains undimmed.
“I am very passionate about taking this team forward. I made that quite clear ahead of this game and that is not going to waver,” he said.
“As always, you use the people around you that you trust and that’s been the case since I took the role on.
“I can’t control any of that (off-field recruitment). All I can control is, when having the opportunity to lead this team, throwing everything at it.
“I’ll do anything I can to help England win. That’s not going to change.”
Meanwhile, Paul Collingwood hopes he has a future in England’s new coaching set-up but has warned the team’s schedule is at risk of breaking players ‘physically and emotionally’.
Collingwood has just wrapped up a month in charge of the Test side as interim head coach and is waiting to hear what role he will play following a 1-0 series defeat in the West
Indies.
A new director of cricket is currently being recruited, with Durham’s Marcus North, former England batter Rob Key and Mark Nicholas among those linked with the post, with the successful candidate likely to appoint specialists to look after the red and white ball teams.
Collingwood’s name is in the frame, with the limited-overs job his most obvious landing place, and he has been enthused by his experience
in the Caribbean.
“I’ve put my hat in the ring and if they want me, they know where I am,” he said. “They’ve seen what I can do. I haven’t got much experience as a head coach, but you would never get a job if that was the case. I feel as though what I’ve done
over the last few weeks is a good start, but it’s only a start.”
One issue the hierarchy will have to focus on is England’s increasingly exhausting schedule. Next winter alone England have six separate touring commitments across four countries.
“I’m sure the new coach will want to pick the best team he can possibly have but if you look at that fixture list, we’re going to have to be very careful,” added Collingwood. “Have a look at the fixture list: we’re going to blow a lot of players out of the water very quickly.”