Joe Root is a world-class player but he looks like he has the world on his shoulders right now, so it might be time for him to have a break from the captaincy.
Pass the armband to someone else, goodness knows who, because there is hardly a posse of candidates, and allow him to concentrate on his batting.
There were two cheap dismissals for Root in this game, having moved up to No 3 again. Why has he done that? Simple. We haven’t got a No 3. It’s a mess.
England suffered another defeat, this time against the West Indies, a 10-wicket loss in Grenada
Joe Root could stand down as captain after a miserable 12 months of cricket for England
The sympathy I have with him is that I do not think he got the team he wanted.
After Australia, he said he wanted his strongest team in the West Indies, yet England go with some half-baked selections and without Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who obviously would be in it.
And that’s just the start. They might as well change everything now because we are at rock bottom, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
The chickens have come home to roost. English cricket is a rudderless ship. There is no director of cricket, no head coach and no direction.
England were second best against the West Indies with Root and his team failing to deliver
Andrew Strauss said a squad was specifically picked for the Caribbean because they wanted to look at different players across three Test matches.
It ought to have been remembered that these particular matches are still for World Test Championship points.
Selection on the ground has been half-cocked too. They have gone in with a few similar seamers and a left-arm spinner, despite a leg-spinner being available. Tactically they have been naive.
To be frank, we have got what we deserved.
West Indies coach Phil Simmons is a wily old stick. He played on England’s lack of patience after wearing them down in the first couple of Tests.
West Indies have played with great discipline, which England have not been able to match.
So, who would be the captain alternatives? Broad would be an option, as would a 39-year-old Anderson, just to get us through the summer.
Root insists he wants to continue captaining England moving forward, but should take a break
England are a long way off from getting back to their best, with many underperforming
People might suggest Ben Stokes but he has had his issues and I would ask administrators to seriously consider whether they want to foist the captaincy on him as well.
Test cricket in this country is in a hell of a spot. So bad that I would want a real root-and-branch look at academies and what they are teaching young players, because we are miles away from other countries and it shows in the Test Championship table.
We are right at the very bottom and that is totally unacceptable with our resources.
Young batsmen coming into opposition teams for Test cricket are proficient. They stand properly, grip the bat properly and address the ball properly. Look at Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood and Joshua Da Silva and how they assess any situations that come their way.
There needs to be some important decisions made in order to help revive England Test cricket
When it is tough, you must dig in. They have shown England players how to do that and they fully understand that you only get one chance. By contrast, England’s batsmen seem to have no regard for differing situations.
They like to play free-flowing, firm-footed, bowling machine shots. There is no sense that if they stick it out, it will get easier.
A new managing director needs to come in and sort this out. Mark Butcher would be outstanding, Rob Key is an alternative, as is Michael Vaughan, but if they want somebody to come in and crack the whip — don’t tell my boss — but it has to be Nasser Hussain!
