General Cricket discussion

Point 3:

When Michael Vaughan succeeded Nasser Hussain in 2003, England lost a world-class batsman and gained something even more precious: a world-class captain whose leadership was the single most important factor in England’s 2005 Ashes victory. The trade has not been quite so successful with Joe Root. England have swapped a world-class batsman for a good batsman and at best a decent captain. Root is averaging 42 as captain, as against 53 when he got the job, and in the past 12 months that average has dropped to 33. This is not to say he should be sacked as a knee-jerk reaction to two defeats. But nor should he be immune, especially if England lose the Ashes in the summer. There’s a strong argument that they would be a better side with Root averaging over 50, ideally at No 3, and somebody else in charge. The number of all‑rounders gives England the luxury of considering all options, however leftfield or risky, and that includes a specialist captain like Eoin Morgan. It would do serious damage to Root’s ego to become the first England captain to be sacked because of Test results since David Gower in 1989, but the ECB is not running a wellness centre. In the last couple of years, there has been too much treading on eggshells, and from afar it feels like merit has not always been the only consideration.

As the former England spinner Robert Croft said on the BBC at the weekend, there is no point having a group of batsmen who are devastating at 220 for three if they are always coming in at 20 for three. One of the reasons England are at sixes and sevens so often is that they have too many sixes and sevens.