‘CAPTAINCY TOOK TOLL ON MY HEALTH’

NO SOONER had Joe Root completed one of the finest of his 26 Test hundreds than he was describing the relief he felt at giving up the captaincy — and the toll it took on his mental health. Root stepped down in April after an England-record 64 Tests in charge, having insisted barely a fortnight earlier, at the end of a miserable 1-0 defeat in the Caribbean, that he wanted to keep calm and carry on. Time at home brought clarity, though: after one win in 17 games, it was the moment to move on. Yesterday at Lord’s, as he basked in the glow of a run chase magnificently marshalled, it all came flooding out. ‘It had become a very unhealthy relationship to be honest, the captaincy and me,’ he said. ‘It started to really 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 or people close to me, and it wasn’t fair on myself either. ‘I think I was unaware of how much it was grabbing hold of me, and I just needed to make the decision. Once I did, I knew it was the right thing to do. I felt like a big weight had been lifted and I immediately felt a lot better.’ During his five years as Test captain, Root spent many a press conference praising Ben Stokes for his latest heroics. Now, at the first opportunity, he has started to rebalance the ledger. ‘It’s my turn now,’ said Root. ‘That’s a great motivator for me moving forward, with the amount of amazing things Ben did for this team under my leadership.’ New Zealand captain Kane Williamson described Root as a ‘special player’ after he became the 14th Test batsman to reach the 10,000-run milestone. ‘It’s an amazing achievement to join an elite list of the finest players in the history of the game,’ he said. ‘He’s done it with real grace and a sense of ease.’