Joe Root says he is 'having more fun' playing for England now that he has stepped down as captain, with the side winning six out of seven Test matches this summer.
Under new captain Ben Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum, England played an aggressive and positive brand of cricket that has captured the imagination. After Root resigned as skipper in April, with England having won just once in their last 17 Tests, he revealed he had developed a "very unhealthy relationship" with the role and said it had started to "take a bad toll on my own personal health".
However, he has been playing with a lot more freedom this summer and believes England can "go from strength to strength. In an interview with Sky Sports, Root said of the summer: "It's been great fun.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed this year as much as probably any I have in international cricket since I've been playing, in terms of Test cricket in particular.
"Hopefully we can go from strength to strength from here and keep moving forward as a team, but we've done some things this year that not many Test teams have been able to achieve. I think the challenge for us now is to keep going for it, keep trying to explore new areas in the format and see how far we can take it."
And when asked if he has found Test cricket 'more fun' now that he has relinquished the captaincy, Root replied: "Yeah, definitely. It was a tough last couple of years, but I think we've got to look forward as a team - I certainly have.
"I'm really excited to just get my teeth into trying to score as many as I can for Ben and for the team and see where we can get to as a side. As an experienced player in the team, I've still got a role in trying to lead in a different capacity, help with some of the younger batters and younger guys and hopefully that will benefit us as well.
"I'm really excited [for the Test series against Pakistan]. I've never been before. When you look at some of the games that have been there in the last couple of years, the teams touring there, it has looked great so really looking forward to getting out there.
"I'm really excited to do something different. Having played the game for 10 years in international cricket, to now get the opportunity to play there is a really exciting chance."
