As expected, Joe Root has been named as Alastair Cook’s successor as captain of the England Test team, taking charge for the first time when South Africa arrive on tour this summer. Unless there are unforeseen disasters ahead the 26-year-old, the 10th Yorkshireman to captain his country, will also be the one making the on-pitch decisions when England defend the Ashes in Australia next winter. Durham’s Ben Stokes is the new vice-captain but both will lean heavily on advice from senior pros James Anderson and Stuart Broad as well as former skipper Cook, who intends to carry on playing.
Root’s appointment has been generally well received but there is a slight worry about his lack of captaincy experience – when he oversaw an unexpected Yorkshire defeat by Middlesex in the County Championship, his team-mates nicknamed his ‘Craptain’! However, he’ll have learned plenty from his time as understudy to Cook and also from Jason Gillespie and former skipper Andrew Gale at Yorkshire. He also carries the full confidence of the ECB’s Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss.
Root certainly can’t afford to let his own standards slip as his country are heavily reliant on his consistent run haul. But he is similar in age and Test experience to the likes of Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, who have successfully managed to juggle the need to make runs with the responsibilities that managing a Test team brings. They, however, didn’t take the job off the back of a reputation as the dressing-room joker and that is an aspect of his game that the new captain will have to reassess.
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England are 5/2 to win the Ashes series with William Hill, with Australia a best 8/11 and the draw at 13/2. Bet365 are among layers who already have a full list of Correct Score odds for the five-match series with a 4-1 win for Australia priced up at 8/1.
