After his installation as England captain during a disastrous series against the West Indies in 1966, Brian Close is alleged to have delivered a few tough truths to his men. “I shouldn’t be here if we hadn’t made such a mess of this series,” Close supposedly said. “What’s more, neither would a few of you.”
They were words that his fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root could perhaps have aped as he addressed the rank and file after leading England out in Test cricket for the 65th time. The mess may not have been made on the field as in 1966 in the summer of Sobers, but the stand-in skipper may just have gazed around a huddle containing five players with one cap or fewer and wondered quite how he and they had got here. At least the blazer, dug out of the garage and dusted off, still fit snugly on shoulders that, Root himself admitted, had been unlikely to carry this burden again.
