Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has given his verdict on Joe Root’s stint as the England Test captain. He feels that even though Root was immensely popular and admired among the public and his peers, he was never a tactically sound skipper.
Root stepped down from the captaincy on April 16, following months of turmoil in English cricket. In their last 17 matches, England had managed to win only one match. They were hammered in the Ashes by 4-0 down under followed by 1-0 defeat against West Indies in the Caribbean. There was criticism around Root’s job, and eventually, he decided to quit.
In his column for The Telegraph, Boycott expressed that Root was never a tactically sound skipper. He feels that captaincy is something that you either have or you don’t.
“Tactically Joe has not got it and never had it. If it’s not there I don’t believe you can learn it. It is instinct, a feel for the changing situations of a match and some experience helps. Setting fields and getting bowlers to bowl to them is crucial to any chance of winning.
“The players and public all like Joe so a dressing room with Joe in charge is bound to be a good place, but that alone doesn’t win matches. Being smart and clever with a cricket brain has more impact,”
he wrote.
Root had taken over the captaincy from Alastair Cook in 2017. He ended his stint as the captain to have led the most Test matches (64) for England and with most wins (27) to his credit. Root also has the most losses (26) as an England skipper.
Boycott, who played 108 Tests for England, added that giving up the captaincy might not have been easy for Root. He also feels that England will continue to struggle in the Test arena even after the appointment of the new captain as their past performances will haunt them.
