England may as well hand the Ashes to Australia now

Joe Root will go down as one England’s greatest players regardless of what happens during his second spell as Test captain. At 35, and taking on the job that almost broke him by the end of his first stint in early 2022, this is a huge risk. There is less than a year – and just 10 Tests – before the start of the next Ashes series in June next year. It’s a series that will define this current regime at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) – notably director of cricket Rob Key, chief executive Richard Gould and chair Richard Thompson. Unless this new England set-up, led by Root and incoming coach Stephen Fleming, lift the urn next summer it is curtains for the men at the top. There is literally no margin for error any more. It’s why handing the captaincy to Root yet again is perhaps a gamble they really couldn’t afford to take. Incoming England Test coach Stephen Fleming will work closely alongside the 35-year-old (Photo: Getty) Fleming looks an excellent appointment as coach. It’s a shame he cannot take formal charge until the winter tour of South Africa, missing the upcoming series against Pakistan that starts on 19 August. But the New Zealander is a progressive pick to replace his compatriot Brendon McCullum. Root, though, is as regressive a pick as you could get for the captaincy. In the wake of Ben Stokes’ retirement from international cricket during the final Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge at the end of June, I wrote that if Root was the man the ECB chose to succeed him then England may as well hand over the Ashes to Australia now. It’s a comment I stand by 100 per cent. I truly hope I am proven wrong on that. By next summer, England’s wait for an Ashes series win will be 12 years. They badly need to end that barren run – not for people to keep their jobs but to inject some optimism and joy into the English game after a grim couple of years. Last winter’s Ashes in Australia were a particular low point. But going back to the future to reappoint Root four years after he quit the job citing an “unhealthy relationship” with the captaincy does not feel like the right play. There have been a succession of grievous errors from those at the top of the ECB since last winter. I fear this will be yet another. Before I continue, I want to say how much I respect Root as a player and a person. Out of all the cricketers I have dealt with in more than 15 years covering England, he is perhaps the most genuine, generous and polite I have come across. He is a genuinely nice guy who has remained down to earth and gracious – even to the dreaded media – despite spending 14 years in the brutal environment that is professional sport. I wish him nothing but success for his latest spell as captain. Nothing would please me more than Root leading England to Ashes glory next summer and I hope it happens. But I worry. I worry that at 35, the pressure of captaincy may hasten the end of his career. I worry that as a selfless character who always puts the team first, his form may drop off significantly at the expense of England’s results. I also worry that Root’s selfless nature was potentially taken advantage of when he was asked to take over again. He was always unlikely to say no. Asking him the question, when he knew full well there were few other options, was unfair on him. It’s interesting that Key and Fleming both referenced the pandemic when talking about Root’s reappointment. The former spoke about him being able “to lead free from the Covid restrictions” England faced at the end of his first stint as captain, while the latter spoke about this tenure being in a “different context” to the last. It’s true England’s run of one win in 17 at the end of Root’s original captaincy in 2022 was the result of the players spending close to two years in Covid bubbles. They had the heaviest schedule of any international team during the pandemic and it took its toll. But would you hand Chris Silverwood a second chance at the coaching job for the same reasons? After all, Silverwood’s reign has largely been assessed without the significant mitigating factor of having to navigate England through the pandemic. Root’s Test form as captain from the summer of 2020 to the end of his time in charge was actually better – an average of 52.04 with eight hundreds – than before the pandemic. His record before Covid in terms of England’s results was 20 wins to 15 losses. It’s not great, but not as bad as some remember. During that time, he won series home and away to South Africa, beat India at home 4-1 and won away twice in Sri Lanka. On the flip side, there was a 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia, two series defeats in New Zealand and another in the West Indies. Read more Big read: 11 mistakes that killed Bazball Cheat or genius? The mystery spinner causing a stir in the Hundred It’s too simplistic to write off that first spell as captain – overall 27 wins and 26 defeats – just because of the pandemic. Root was the right man at the right time back then and did okay. Now he feels like the wrong man at the wrong time. England need the best version of Root between now and the end of next summer’s Ashes. Otherwise they have no chance. This appointment risks handicapping him – and England – at a time when they can least afford for that to happen.