Who would captain England if Joe Root stepped down?

Joe Root’s dismissal on the final day of England’s first Test against New Zealand once again raised questions of whether he is being best utilised by being asked to captain the side, as well as being its premier batsman.

The shot showed signs of a scrambled mind. The ball from Colin de Grandhomme was short and wide, the kind an uncluttered Root would happily cut through point or ride down to third man. But here he seemed caught in two minds, as if remembering at the last moment that England were trying to save a game and attempting to embrace a new, more attritional approach, and instead tapped it tamely into the hands of Tom Latham at backward point.

His score of 11 took his average as skipper below 40 for the first time since he took up the role. When compared to his average of 52.80 under Alastair Cook’s stewardship, and when also taking into consideration his average of 27.40 this year, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the burden of leadership is stripping England of the best years of the most accomplished batsman they have produced since the Second World War.

A shot that shows muddled thinking?pic.twitter.com/jrGQe7xSQu

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 24, 2019

Further highlighting his Test batting woes is continued prolificacy in coloured clothing for England. With two World Cup centuries, this year he has cemented his status as one of the best ODI players England have ever had, and his clear-headed approach demonstrates how good he can be when alleviated of the burden of captaincy.

He has hardly been a leader to inspire his side in other ways either. His mishandling of Jofra Archer at Mount Maunganui was only the latest of example of Root struggling to balance his bowlers’ workloads effectively, and his side’s profligacy with the bat and failure to stick to a single approach with the ball has also been cause for concern.

Though Ashley Giles, the ECB’s managing director of England Men’s cricket has backed Root to continue in his role until the 2021/22 Ashes, his justification has been less than convincing. “I’m not sure what else you expect me to say,” he said on Sky Sports Cricket during lunch on day four. “We think Joe is the right man for the job but there is a lot of pressure in this and anyone’s circumstances can change.”

While South Africa’s Graeme Smith shows that an unorthodox inexperienced left-hander can have immediate and extended success after being thrust into the captaincy, it would be optimistic to expect Burns to do the same. Still, having led Surrey to the County Championship title in 2018, his captaincy credentials are established.

Could Eoin Morgan replace Joe Root as England Test captain?

It’s tempting to imagine England’s ice-cool white-ball skipper could have a Mike Brearley-like impact in Test cricket, picked as a specialist captain with any batting exploits a bonus. Deemed inadequate at the time, his Test average of 30.43 and two centuries compares favourably with many current contenders, though it would be incredibly harsh on Ollie Pope, the most likely to miss out if England were to plump for Morgan.

Apart from how ridiculous it would be when you actually think about it, it is his actual lack of first-class leadership experience that should discount him; he has only ever lead in four first-class games, with the last coming in 2012. Hardly the CV of a specialist skipper.