Atherton labels ‘deluded’ Root’s captaincy ‘untenable’ in scathing analysis

Michael Atherton believes Joe Root has “reached the end of the road as captain” after England’s humbling defeat by the West Indies cost them the series in Grenada

Michael Atherton has labelled Joe Root ‘s captaincy “untenable” and called on him to “end the delusion” following England ‘s comprehensive defeat to the West Indies in Grenada.

The loss means England have won just one of their last 17 Test matches under Root and failed to win any of their last five series for their first time ever in their history. And Atherton, who captained England in 54 Tests between 1993 and 2001, believes Root has “reached the end of the road as captain”.

In his column for the Times, Atherton wrote: “After a double failure of his own, twice out to the dobbing medium pace of Kyle Mayers, it felt like a moment to end the delusion. Root’s captaincy is untenable, and he must surely know it deep down.

“His team have gone five series without victory and have won only one Test in the past 17, a shocking run for a side so well resourced. As was obvious to anyone who was in Australia, and should have been obvious to anyone who wasn’t, Root has reached the end of the road as captain.

” A change will not cure all ills — this is a poor team and England are paying the price for the neglect of the first-class game — but there simply comes a time when a captain has nothing new to say, no new methods of motivating his players and a different voice or different style is required. He had reached that point at the end of the Ashes and nothing has changed.”

However, Root is adamant that he wants to continue as captain. Speaking to BT Sport following the defeat in Grenada, he said: “I think I’ve made it quite clear at the start of this game and throughout this tour, I’m very passionate about trying to take this team forward and I will control what I can.

“I don’t think it is ever in your hands completely. I feel like the group are very much behind me, we’re doing a lot of really good things and we just need to turn that into results now.

“I thought the attitude throughout the whole thing’s been brilliant. In that respect we’ve definitely made big improvements, and that has to continue.

“There are so many good things that we can take away from this, of course we came here to win and we’ve not, and that’s frustrating, it’s disappointing. But if we’re going to keep learning and keep growing as a team, and if we’re going to start winning, then we’ve got to keep that approach.”