oe Root’s end as England’s captain was rather tame; he won only one game out of seventeen, which included an Ashes defeat in the 2020/21 series. The veteran had to take up the captaincy again in Cardiff against New Zealand in the second Test amid Ben Stokes’ night brawl incident.
However, things changed after the series defeat against New Zealand. Stokes has announced his retirement, and Brendon McCullum was axed as the Test match coach. Elsewhere in India, Chennai Super Kings parted ways with Stephen Fleming, and England turned to another Kiwi for the red-ball job, and Root has been re-appointed as the England skipper for a second stint.
“I’ve admired him from afar, first as a player and recently as a coach. To get the chance to work together is going to be great fun. Once I’d spoken to Stephen about it and saw his energy and excitement for it, and saw we’re very aligned on it, I got excited very quickly. Hopefully, we can work and build on a lot of the good things that have happened over the last four years,” Root told BBC Sport.
“I think Brendon and Ben did a brilliant job, in many ways, of turning things around and getting us in a position where hopefully now we can carry that forward in a slightly different way. Hopefully, we can work and build on a lot of the good things that have happened over the last four years.
“The last four years have been the most fun I’ve had in professional cricket, and a big part of that was down to the way they [McCullum and Stokes] got me to see the game.
“Clearly, the last little while is probably what’s fresh in everyone’s mind, but you’re looking at a four-year period where we did a lot of amazing things. I’ve taken a lot from that, and I feel it will be a big part of how I want to approach things moving forward as a leader of this team,” he added.