Root: I want to remain England Test captain

Joe Root says he wants to stay on as England Test captain after the 4-0 Ashes defeat by Australia – but admits the decision could be taken out of his hands.

A 146-run thrashing in Hobart on Sunday condemned England to a 10th defeat in their last 14 Test matches, with just one victory coming in that time.

Root was also captain when England lost their previous away Ashes series 4-0 in 2017/18 and in charge for the home series in 2019 which was drawn 2-2.

The 31-year-old has led England in a record 61 Tests, winning 27, losing 25 and drawing nine.

Root said; “I believe that I am the right man to take this team forward. I have an appetite to carry on and turn things around. If that decision is taken out of my hands, so be it.

“At the minute we are going through a real tough stage as a group of players and the performances haven’t been good enough.

“But I’d love the opportunity to try to turn things around and for us to start putting in performances from an English Test team.”

England were rolled for just 124 in their second innings of the pink-ball fifth Test, losing 10 wickets for 56 runs having reached 68-0 in a chase of 271 for victory.

The tourists only passed 200 four times in 10 innings during the series, with a best of 297.

Root: Change needed to improve England’s Test cricket

Speaking to BT Sport, Root said: “There were some really soft dismissals. We have to be better as a batting group. You can’t win Test matches if you are not getting 200.

“A number of things have to change. In the short-term, guys have to learn quickly. If you want to survive at this level, you have to learn quickly. What they are lacking is the opportunities to do that at the level beforehand.

“We need to sit down and have a clear look at what direction English cricket needs to take, what direction English Test cricket needs to take to improve and improve quickly. That is not going to change overnight.”

England’s torrid year in Test cricket included a 3-1 series defeat in India, a home series defeat to New Zealand and then the Ashes loss as they failed in their bid to regain the urn.

Root said: “The pandemic has made things extremely challenging. The amount of cricket we have played on the road in restrictive environments does take its toll on you.

“Not necessarily out on the field in terms of performances but it does have a knock-on effect.

“It wears you down over a long period of time. It is a challenge no one has really had before and we have done it more than anyone else. That doesn’t excuse a performance like that.”

The position of head coach Chris Silverwood has also come under scrutiny but the 46-year-old did not discuss his future in the immediate aftermath of England’s heavy defeat in Tasmania.

Silverwood told BT Sport: “I will reflect [on the decisions I have made] and speak to people who I trust to give me some honest feedback. I will be looking to learn as well.

“I am not going to speak about [my future as head coach] right now but there will be a review and that will clearly be assessed.”

Will Silverwood lose his job?

Speaking on BT Sport, former England batter Mark Butcher said he would be looking closely at the position of Silverwood, who is currently in the joint role of coach and chief selector.

Sir Alastair Cook, England’s leading Test run-scorer of all time, says he would be surprised if there were not changes made ahead of the three-Test series in the West Indies in March.

Butcher said: “I would be very tempted to change the man at the top in Silverwood.

“If you can’t get a response out of the players you have got, and things look muddled to the extent that they do from the outside, and things are not getting any better, I think a change of coach would be a good place to start.

“It’s a ludicrous decision to have someone in the dressing room coaching you, but also be the same person that hires and fires you. You can’t have the coach being the head selector at the same time.”

Cook added: “I will be very surprised if England go to the West Indies in March with exactly the same structure in place. I’m not saying Joe Root won’t be captain but I can’t see how there won’t be some changes.

“We have had the same coaches in place for 18 months now and I’ve not seen any improvement, really, in anything. What has been going on behind the scenes?

“You have to ask questions of Graham Thorpe, the batting coach, and the others. If you have the same leadership group in the West Indies and England lose, their positions will be untenable and there has to be change.”