Who replaces Root if he moves on as England Test captain?
There’s a growing sense of inevitability about England cricket captain Joe Root stepping down from his role. It might not be today or tomorrow, it may not be next week or beyond, but following another Test series defeat in the Caribbean there’s a general consensus that the day is coming.
Root has won more matches as captain than any other Englishman to hold the role but is on a dire run of one win in 17. With that in mind, here are some of those who could take up the arguably tainted job of captaining England.
Ben Stokes
All-rounder Ben Stokes will be the name rolling off most tongues in the coming weeks. The current vice-captain has often been at the epicentre of English success in recent years, notably the 2019 Ashes win in Headingley – though he’s not the run machine Root has proved to be.
Stokes brings power and personality, and recently surpassed 5,000 Test runs on England’s disappointing tour to the West Indies. He’s seemingly the obvious choice.
Whether the 30-year-old would want the gig is an entirely different question, however. Stokes last year took a prolonged period of time away from the Test game citing mental health and injury recovery.
If he were to be captain, this kind of decision may be one he’d be reluctant to take again – potentially being detrimental to his health. The pressure to be there for the team might lead Stokes to put others ahead of himself.
Jonny Bairstow
Bairstow has been something of a rock for England, recent scores of his rescuing draws in both the Caribbean and Australia.
The big-hitting middle order wicketkeeper-batter will have been part of the England Test set-up for a decade come May and has knowledge of how everything moves and shakes around the camp.
Current interim England managing director Sir Andrew Strauss has previously defended Bairstow in the past following a headbutt incident in 2017. The current bigwig has had his back, a relationship that could be important depending on who is in charge by the next Test series.
Sam Billings
Kent wicketkeeper and batter Sam Billings has been involved with England since 2015 but has featured just once in Test match cricket for the national side, against Australia in January.
He’s clearly an outsider but averages a stable 33 in first class cricket and has captained his county since 2018.
In the first year as Kent skipper Billings participated in the Indian Premier League, however, something which resulted in him missing matches for his county.
It would be a real leap of faith to back someone with such a lack of experience at international Test level, but in Billings England would at least have the freshest of slates on which to write their next chapter.
Jos Buttler
Buttler last featured for England in January having made his debut in 2014. The Somerset-born Lancashire player has nearly 3,000 Test runs for England and bats at an average above 30.
With experience in India and Australia in limited-overs cricket, as many cricketers do in the modern era, he could be a smart choice to keep in the fold – after all, it was his run out that won the World Cup in that famous 2019 super over.
That said, Buttler is vice-captain to Eoin Morgan in the white-ball game and at 31, could be eyeing a stint as captain of the one-day and T20 teams.
Eoin Morgan
The outsider’s outsider would be Morgan. As captain of the white ball side, Morgan is one of the few who has been able to lead England to sustained success on the world stage – he skippered them to the 2019 50-over World Cup win and to the semi-finals of last year’s T20 World Cup.
But at 35 years old, he may rule out a return to the Test arena before too many can pin hopes on him as a potential captain – he hasn’t played a Test for England since February 2012.
Morgan is someone, however, a new captain would lean on for advice on player options and techniques. Not to do so would be foolish.