Former England cricketer David Lloyd wants Joe Root to take a break from captaincy to focus on his batting after another Test series loss against West Indies this time. Lloyd, 75, said England’s top order was “a mess”, forcing Root’s move to No 3 and resulting in his cheap dismissal.
West Indies registered a 10-wicket win over England in a 1-0 series win over England on Sunday after the first two draws on the fourth day of the third Test in Grenada. Needing just 28 runs to win after bowling out England for 120 in the second innings, West Indies openers Craig Brathwaite and John Campbell chased down the target in 4.5 overs as the game ended within the first session.
The series loss to the West Indies comes after England’s 0–4 defeat in the Ashes in Australia, which led to coach Chris Silverwood stepping down and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) making bulk changes to the squad for the West Indies Test tour. Fast bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad were dropped.
“Joe Root is a world-class player, but it looks like he has the world on his shoulders so it may be time for him to take a break from captaincy,” Lloyd said in his column for the Daily Mail on Monday.
“Pass the armband to someone else, goodness knows who, because there are hardly a multitude of candidates, and allow him to focus on his batting. The game saw two cheap outs for Root, who again Got to No. 3. Why has he done that? Simple. We haven’t got to No. 3. It’s a mess,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd, who played nine Tests, felt that the captain did not have the players he wanted at his disposal. Root has endured 12 months of cricket for England, and the team is currently at the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) percentage points table behind Bangladesh.
“I sympathize with him (Root) that I don’t think he got the team he wanted. After Australia, he said he wants his strongest team in the West Indies, yet England goes with some half-baked selections and without Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who will clearly be in it. And this is just the beginning. They can change everything now because we are under a rock; There is no doubt about it.”
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), under Andrew Strauss, interim director of men’s cricket, made major changes to the squad touring the West Indies for a three-Test series, with Broad, Anderson – the country’s two leading wicket-takers. Except in Test cricket – Dom Bess, Sam Billings, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Haseeb Hameed and David Malan after 0-4 Ashes defeat.
“The chickens have come to roam the house. English cricket is a ship without a rudder. There is no director of cricket, no head coach and no direction. Andrew Strauss said that a team especially for the Caribbean Was chosen because they wanted to see different players in three Test matches. It should be remembered that these particular matches are still for World Test Championship points,” Lloyd said.
“Selection on the ground has also become half-hearted. Despite leg spinners being available, they have gone with some similar seamers and left-arm spinners. Cleverly they have become nave. To be honest, we got what we deserved.”
Lloyd said the ECB will have to go back to the grassroots level and make a fresh start, adding that potential captaincy candidate Ben Stokes also had his issues and administrators should ask the all-rounder if he really wants to take the job.
“People can suggest Ben Stokes but he has his issues and I would ask the administrators to seriously consider whether they want to impose the captaincy on him as well. Test cricket in this country is in bad shape. So bad that I’d like to see a real root-and-branch look at the academies and what they’re teaching young players, because we’re miles away from other countries and it shows in the Test Championship table.
Lloyd asked administrators to appoint former captain Nasser Hussain as the new Managing Director of England Cricket because he can “crack the whip”.
“A new managing director needs to come and sort it out. Mark Butcher would be excellent, Rob’s a substitute, as is Michael Vaughan, but if they want someone to come in and whip – don’t tell my boss – but it has to be Nasser Hussain!”
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