"Root’s captaincy is untenable, has reached the end of the road as captain" - Michael Atherton

Former England cricketer Michael Atherton has come down hard at Joe Root's captaincy in recent times. With the Brits losing their latest Test series against the West Indies, Atherton didn't seem pleased with the overall first-class structure and Root's performances.

In his column in The Times, Michael Atherton called out the England Test skipper's double failure in the Grenada Test. He added that the 31-year-old getting out twice against Kyle Mayers felt like a moment to end the delusion.

“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.”

Atherton further noted that Joe Root's captaincy is untenable and pointed out the fact that England won only one Test match in the last 17 games.

“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."

"There simply comes a time when a captain has nothing new to say, no new methods of motivating his players" - Michael Atherton

Michael Atherton suggested that England should look at a different approach with a different captain. Mentioning that Joe Root has nothing new to offer, he added:

“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."

Atherton noted that the ECB's new managing director should make a decision about a captaincy change. He further wrote:

"He had reached that point at the end of the Ashes and nothing has changed. It would have been a cleaner break to have finished then but that decision will now be for the new ECB managing director, with the date for applications for that vacancy having closed on Sunday."

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