Joe Root has been urged to quit his captaincy

Joe Root has been urged to quit by three of England’s most powerful voices. England has only won one of their past 17 Tests under Root, including the 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia. England has now lost five consecutive series for the first time in its history.

From 64 Tests in command, the 31-year-old has a winning percentage of 42.19. His winning percentage is lower than that of Michael Vaughan (50.98) and Andrew Strauss (46), but greater than that of Alastair Cook (40.68), Nasser Hussain (37.78), Mike Atherton (24.07), and Graham Gooch (29.41). Following the tragedy in Australia, a broom was swept through the high-performance setup, and now Root is being urged to step aside. It felt like the right time to shatter the delusion after a double failure of his own, twice out to Kyle Mayers’ dobbing medium pace.

Atherton on Joe Root

Former England first-class cricketer Michael Andrew Atherton who is also a journalist, and broadcaster is very unhappy with Root. He said that Root’s captaincy is unsustainable, and he must realise that. His club has gone five series without a win and has only won one Test in the last 17 matches, an incredible run for a squad with so many resources.

A change will not cure all faults — this is a bad squad, and England is paying the price for its disregard of the first-class game — but there comes a point when a captain has nothing fresh to say, no new ways to motivate his teammates, and a different voice or approach is required. Nothing had changed since he arrived at that time at the end of the Ashes. It would have been a cleaner break if the choice had been made then, but the next ECB managing director will be chosen immediately, with the deadline for applications closing on Sunday.

Atherton has witnessed England’s downfall

From close quarters, Atherton has witnessed England’s tragic downfall. The former England opener was in Australia for their disastrous tour and in the Caribbean for their 1-0 defeat. Atherton too expressed optimism about a new beginning under a man who had already led England in more Tests than anybody else. The decision to leave Broad and Anderson out was part of a strategy to protect Root’s captaincy according to him. However, it was faulty and it resulted in a lineup that was weaker than Australia’s.

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