Home
Former England captain Joe Root was the saviour for England against New Zealand in the first Test at the Lord's on Sunday, June 5, with his unbeaten knock of 115 runs helping the struggling Test side to a five-wicket win over the Kiwis. After his match-winning century Root opened up about his 'unhealthy relationship' with the Test captaincy that he relinquished ahead back in May.
Root had stepped down as England's skipper in the longest format following defeats against Australia in the Ashes and then away to the West Indies. He was replaced by Ben Stokes, but it was Root who played a big role in helping the all-rounder get off to a winning start to his captaincy stint, giving his team a 1-0 lead in the series against New Zealand.
"It had become a very unhealthy relationship to be honest, the captaincy and me," Root told ESPNcricinfo after the match. "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, on people close to me, and it wasn't fair on myself either," he added.
The 31-year-old broke records along the way to his 26th Test century. He also became the second Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs. The first was Alastair Cook, another former England captain.
"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," Root also said.
Speaking about Stokes' captaincy, Root said, "I obviously tried as much as I could, but I think I was unaware of how much it was grabbing hold of me. I just needed to make the decision, and 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."
"As hard as it was, obviously it's been a huge privilege and something that I'm extremely proud to have done, but it's time for a new phase in my career. And it's one that I'm very much looking forward to, seeing one of my best mates now take this team forward and start in a way that he has," he said.
