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Joe Root: BBC Sport readers back England captain to remain despite Ashes loss

Last updated on .From the section Cricketcomments349

Joe Root celebrates with Stuart Broad
Joe Root, right, has said he wants to continue as England Test captain

Yorkshire's Joe Root has been backed to continue as England men's Test captain in a vote of BBC Sport readers.

The position of Root, 31, has been questioned following the 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia - a series in which England were criticised for decisions regarding selection and tactics.

However, 58% of BBC Sport readers voted for Root to continue, with vice-captain Ben Stokes, taking 18% of the vote.

In third place was fast bowler Stuart Broad with 8%.

The futures of 35-year-old Broad and his fellow opening bowler, 39-year-old James Anderson, have also been questioned following the chastening defeat in Australia.

However, when we asked BBC Sport readers to select their team for England's first Test against West Indies in Antigua on 8 March, more than half wanted both Broad (56%) and Anderson (51%) in the line-up.

Despite England's winter of woe, only Durham opener Alex Lees (27%) has been selected to win a first Test cap by our readers.

Ben Foakes has been tipped to win a recall behind the stumps, with current incumbents Jos Buttler (16%) and Sam Billings (18%) not selected. And no spinner was included - Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson (28%) coming closest.

Their starting line-up is: Zak Crawley (76%), Alex Lees (27%), Dawid Malan (37%), Joe Root (96%), Ben Stokes (87%), Jonny Bairstow (63%), Ben Foakes (50%), Ollie Robinson (63%), Mark Wood (71%), Stuart Broad (56%), James Anderson (51%).

Don't agree? There's still chance to pick your team for the Windies here...

England team for West Indies series

Pick your England team for their next series against West Indies in March. Choose your side and share it with your friends.

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349 comments

  • Comment posted by HowNowMarkFrancois, at 16:17 21 Jan 2022

    The poll only offered the options of current members of the team as captain.

    • Reply posted by DocuDrama, at 19:19 21 Jan 2022

      DocuDrama replied:
      Fair point. We should at least have the option of including successful captains from the county championship.

  • Comment posted by Johann Von Nerd, at 15:25 21 Jan 2022

    Are readers backing Root to continue because he’s considered a good captain or is it because there’s nobody else who could do better? Not being snarky it’s a genuine question.

    • Reply posted by Ewan Hoozami, at 15:41 21 Jan 2022

      Ewan Hoozami replied:
      lack of alternative, for me at least. Stokes is the obvious next choice but I don't think he needs any additional pressure at this time

  • Comment posted by matt1985, at 18:15 21 Jan 2022

    I just want to know who the 4% were who weren't putting Root in their team. Do they really think there are 6 other batsmen in England who are better than him?

  • Comment posted by Macdivot, at 19:40 21 Jan 2022

    Almost every contributor to HYS during the Ashes wanted Root to be replaced as captain.

    • Reply posted by the_warden, at 22:55 21 Jan 2022

      the_warden replied:
      People are more likely to post a comment if they want change though

  • Comment posted by kai, at 19:51 21 Jan 2022

    Unbelievable honestly what the hell is wrong with people? Let me remind you 4-0 and root,played,captained and helped to pick all the players in the team and he sets the tone and that tone was an embarrassment. 4-0. What exactly do people think will change,the same players will remian and the collapses will continue and the same fielding performances will continue.hes not a good enough captain

    • Reply posted by the_warden, at 22:54 21 Jan 2022

      the_warden replied:
      I don't think much will change. Fact is we don't have a great team. I don't think changing the captain will help though - it will make things worse

  • Comment posted by Paul, at 14:57 21 Jan 2022

    …because Tom Abell wasn’t included as an option in your poll! And, by the way, neither was Craig Overton given as an option in the team selection. You do know cricket thrives outside the big cities, don’t you?

  • Comment posted by Lucy, at 14:27 21 Jan 2022

    What concerns me most about that is that 4% of people didn't pick Joe Root in their team for the West Indies... he literally scored the majority of England's runs in 2021 single-handedly! The poor stats for the team for 2021 would make for seriously awful reading without his input!

    • Reply posted by View from the armchair, at 08:38 22 Jan 2022

      View from the armchair replied:
      I suppose if he wasn't there they couldn't leave it to him? They might remember what they've been picked to do for once

  • Comment posted by Robert McDermott, at 21:46 21 Jan 2022

    Been saying Root is no captain since he was appointed. Too soft. No wonder the (failed) head man and the players want to keep him. They get their own way. If he had any brains he would step down.

    • Reply posted by Mastervillain, at 11:20 22 Jan 2022

      Mastervillain replied:
      I agree. His interviews and well trotted out responses just feel like empty words. I just can't imagine he convinces his squad.

      Do any of the regulars fear for their place if the keep failing? Only the peripheral players seem to carry the can for team failure. Then we have mangement's public digs against Robinson, who may need to work on his fitness, but still out-bowls most of his peers.

  • Comment posted by BBCwhy, at 15:25 21 Jan 2022

    BBC sport must have a lot of Aussie readers and voters!!

    • Reply posted by D1710064022768, at 08:59 22 Jan 2022

      D1710064022768 replied:
      we don't know how many voters there were, they don't stipulate. Might be 1000s but given HYS can in this "minority sport" have a few thousand comments and you expect it to be considerably less participants, might be 1000 or less. I don't remember seeing the poll, if I did I think I would have voted Stokes as the only practical alternative, but it could be a fairly small sample

  • Comment posted by flying lizard, at 15:30 21 Jan 2022

    Only cos the choice was between players already playing for England. If you had a wider choice then maybe not!! My pick - just to annoy everyone - James Vince.

    • Reply posted by BigBadBarry8myboat, at 17:43 21 Jan 2022

      BigBadBarry8myboat replied:
      Why would that annoy anyone? Excellent skipper. Yes he may not score as many at top level as he should but we kept Buttler, Bairstow, Pope and others for long enough not scoring runs.

  • Comment posted by Anthony Francis, at 15:55 21 Jan 2022

    Why in heavens name would you want to keep Root as captain? he has shown himself to be spectacularly unequipped and unsuitable for the role. He's on a par with Botham - although Botham did have some excuses - the West Indies quicks.

    • Reply posted by Cobby, at 16:01 21 Jan 2022

      Cobby replied:
      Lack of alternatives really can't see who else would take over. Alright saying drop Root but who else is likely to take over?

  • Comment posted by GreySmallCobra, at 20:17 21 Jan 2022

    It’s a joke. root has just captained the test team on its worst run since the 80’s and you want to keep him?

    Spineless

    • Reply posted by Mastervillain, at 11:13 22 Jan 2022

      Mastervillain replied:
      I agree with you, but I suspect the vote more reflects the poor choice of alternatives. Stokes is by no means a certain starter these days with his off field challenges, so a fresh choice outside the current squad is perhaps the other realistic option. BBC didn't offer that opportunity. Almost felt a bit of a rigged exercise.

  • Comment posted by Man of Kent, at 15:33 21 Jan 2022

    Root was tactically inept throughout the Ashes and his team regularly fails to build on positions of strength. England will go nowhere under him.

    • Reply posted by erushmer1, at 16:32 21 Jan 2022

      erushmer1 replied:
      Maybe provide a suggestion for an alternative captain to Root?

  • Comment posted by ChicagoSteve, at 15:29 21 Jan 2022

    Only in English cricket would people vote to keep the same captain, basically the same team, and retain the coach; then demand "change".

    • Reply posted by filg79, at 19:38 21 Jan 2022

      filg79 replied:
      It isn't quite the same team, they've voted in Lees and Foakes. Lees I don't know much about & Foakes I've said he should be in the 11 for the last 3-4 years at least. So there's 2 changes, albeit not radical change. It seems a decent 11, though I'm unconvinced by Malan, he didn't do great in Aus overall and not picking a spinner is risky. Could pick one of Anderson & Broad and play a spinner?

  • Comment posted by Ewan Hoozami, at 15:23 21 Jan 2022

    I'd also like to give Phil Salt a shot at opening. He's pugnacious and confident... the game is just as much about mental strength as technical ability. We need a few street fighters, which is why I also want to see Bairstow retained

  • Comment posted by splendidsparrow, at 01:50 22 Jan 2022

    Root must be replaced!

    • Reply posted by View from the armchair, at 08:51 22 Jan 2022

      View from the armchair replied:
      By?

  • Comment posted by D1710924498949, at 21:11 21 Jan 2022

    A good batsman but when it comes to captaining he's about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

  • Comment posted by kmk, at 14:24 21 Jan 2022

    It's no surprise really as there aren't any outstanding candidates to replace him.
    What needs to change, is the prioritising and scheduling of 4 day matches in County Cricket.
    It's just not producing cricketers who are good enough for test cricket.

    • Reply posted by Mikey, at 12:11 22 Jan 2022

      Mikey replied:
      No money in county cricket. Poor attendances as wage earners at work, subsidised by one day cricket which brings in the revenue. Get rid of central contracts and reopen the player pool again. Can’t get any worse

  • Comment posted by David McManus, at 16:52 21 Jan 2022

    Let's face it on current form there is not much to pick from.

    However that does not excuse the dreadful performances in Australia by the likes of Burns, Hameed, Malan, Pope, Leach, Buttler, Woakes.

    I do not believe the likes of Rob Yates or Josh Bohannon could do any worse.

    • Reply posted by oldhouse , at 16:57 21 Jan 2022

      oldhouse replied:
      Lay off Leach, he was given absolutely no chance to prove himself either through not playing on the right pitches or being captained by someone who seems to have never watched a spinner bowl. Plus spending 12 months as basically a 12th man.

  • Comment posted by Got it Got it Dont Got it, at 15:13 21 Jan 2022

    Presumably they don't see him as the root of the problem
    Ba dum tss

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