The Guardian’s Barney Ronay wrote a piece last weekend arguing that Joe Root should be relieved of the England captaincy so that he might return to being the great batsman he was before being saddled with the responsibility of leadership. Well, timing is everything and not only at the crease. No sooner had the piece appeared in the paper and on the website than Captain Joe returned to form with a double century, his second highest Test score. Not of course that this will silence the many critics of his captaincy, especially not those who repeatedly condemn him on social media as a “useless” captain.
Is he? And what are the criteria on which you judge a captain? I should say that I was disappointed when Alastair Cook relinquished the captain’s baton and it was handed to Root – disappointed, not because I thought he would be inadequate, but because I feared it would shorten his Test career by at least a couple of years. Pretty well everybody who does the job finds it wearing. Michael Vaughan’s team won The Ashes in 2005, but he didn’t bat as well as he had before being given the job and very soon headed for retirement.
