England captain Joe Root says he does not want to “completely rip everything up” from the Bazball era after becoming Test captain for the second time in his career.
The 35-year-old Yorkshireman has been reappointed as Test skipper following the retirement of Ben Stokes and the arrival of new coach Stephen Fleming.
Root led England between 2017 and 2022, captaining them a record 65 times. He left his position after managing just one victory in his final 17 matches, as well as a 4-0 defeat in The Ashes.
England’s style became much more attacking under McCullum and Stokes, but it had taken somewhat of a sour turn before the former was sacked and Stokes left. However, Root says he will not run away from ‘Bazball’.
Speaking to the ECB, Root said: “Since 2022 we’ve done some amazing things.
“We’ll try to continue a lot of the good stuff we did over that period and not finding ourselves back to where we were before Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Ben [Stokes] took over, and evolving and tweaking things to where we want to be and really competing against the top nations consistently.”
Root’s appointment raised some eyebrows given the nature of his previous departure from the captaincy, as well as fans sighting worries over the role affecting his batting.
His average as skipper during his last stint was almost seven runs below an average of 53.34 without the ‘armband’.
However, Root believes a lot has changed since he stepped down – including himself.
Root is back as England Test captain following the retirement of Ben Stokes
“[I’m] hugely different, anyone that says in an eight-year period they were the same person they were [at the start] is probably lying,” he said.
“Whether it be within the game, away from it, all the experience you have along the way throughout that period you will be shaped into a slightly different person. I think that will be very similar in how I want to take this team forward.”
Fleming, former captain of the New Zealand national team, recently left his role as head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings to join England’s Test team.
Asked about working with Fleming, Root said: “We’ve spoken briefly and if I’m being brutally honest he was a big reason why I wanted to do it.
“I’m very excited by the way he sees the game, where he sees us sit as a team and the work we have to do to get to where we want to get to.
Stephen Fleming will be working with Root to reignite English Test cricket
“All of that got me very excited about taking this role on. Very much looking forward to working with him and he’s obviously got a wealth of experience, done some amazing things in the game as a player and as a coach.
“I’m looking forward to the next little while and us trying to build something pretty special together.”
Root takes charge for the upcoming three-match series against Pakistan this month.
England vs Pakistan Test series schedule
All times UK and Ireland, all games live on Sky Sports
First Test (Headingley) – Wednesday August 19-Sunday August 23 (11am)Second Test (Lord’s) – Thursday August 27-Monday August 31 (11am)Third Test (Edgbaston) – Wednesday September 9-Sunday September 13 (11am)
Watch the three-Test series between England and Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket from August 19. Stream cricket and more sport contract-free with NOW.
