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England's Joe Root stepped down as the men's Test Captain following their torrid form in recent matches, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced in a statement on Friday (April 15). The 31-year-old's 27 victories make him the most successful Test captain in England, ahead of Michael Vaughan (26), Alastair Cook, and Andrew Strauss (24 each).
Root, who started his Test career with the national team against India in 2012, was appointed as the successor to Cook in 2017. He led the side to many series victories, including a 4-1 home win over India in 2018 and a 3-1 triumph away to South Africa in 2020. In 2018, he became the first England captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001, a feat he went on to repeat with a 2-0 victory in Sri Lanka in 2021.
During his tenure as skipper, Root achieved the personal milestone of becoming England’s second-highest Test run-scorer behind only Cook. He also scored 14 centuries as captain. His tally of 5,295 runs as the team skipper is the highest by an England captain, and fifth in the all-time list behind only Graeme Smith, Alan Border, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli.
However, England have not been their usual best in the longest format of the game in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle. They are languishing at the bottom of the WTC standings with a miserable 12.5% win percentage in their three series to date. England have won only one of their last 17 Test matches, making Root's position as skipper untenable.
The final straw was England's 1-0 loss in their most recent Test series in West Indies. But the script started being written on the walls after their disastrous performance at the Ashes, which saw England lose 4-0.
Following the announcement, Joe Root said, “After returning from the Caribbean tour and having time to reflect, I have decided to step down as England Men’s Test captain. It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me; I know the timing is right.
"I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride. It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket. I have loved leading my country, but recently it's hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game," he added.
Root's tenure as captain earned the appreciation of ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison, who said, “Joe has been an exceptional role model during his tenure, balancing the demands of Test captaincy whilst continuing to shine brilliantly through his own personal performances. He has led by example, and that has resulted in more Test wins than any other England captain, alongside a number of famous series home and away victories.
“Joe’s leadership qualities were exemplified by how he led the team through some of the most difficult and uncertain times we have known, playing during the pandemic all over the world, which speaks volumes for him as a leader and as a person," he added.
