Joe Root has insisted he will not quit as England captain following their latest series defeat to the West Indies.
Under Root's leadership, England have won just one of their last 17 Test matches and have failed to win any of their last five series'. And following a humiliating ten wicket defeat to the West Indies in Grenada, which saw England crumble under pressure, he has faced calls to step down.
Michael Vaughan, Root's long-time mentor, has questioned his future as skipper, while fellow ex-England captain Michael Atherton has stated there is 'no justification' for Root to remain in charge. However, Root has said he is "very passionate about taking this team forward".
Speaking to BT Sport following the defeat in Grenada, he said: "I think I've made it quite clear at the start of this game and throughout this tour, I'm very passionate about trying to take this team forward. I will control what I can.
"I don't think it is ever in your hands completely. I feel like the group are very much behind me, we're doing a lot of really good things and we just need to turn that into results now."
Reflecting on the series as a whole, Root lamented the way England capitulated in Grenada but insisted his side have made "big strides" as a batting unit. "I think, immediately, there is the frustration with how it's finished because throughout this series I think we've played some really good cricket," he added.
"We've shown what we're capable of as a group. We've grown over the first two games as a batting group. We've taken big strides in that department and then yesterday really let us down, it really hurt us.
"It was an important day in the series and we just didn't stand up to it well enough. Unfortunately, it finds us in this position where we've ended up losing a series in which we've played so much brilliant cricket."
"I thought the attitude throughout the whole (tour) has been brilliant. In that respect, we've definitely made big improvements. There are so many good things that we can taken away but we've come here to win and we've not."
