Joe Root faced the music as a defeated England Test captain once more, and with it came the same question he has been asked many times in the last six months.
Are you the best man to continue as England skipper? Not by cynical hacks such as yours truly, although he gets it plenty from us. But actually by himself, in those quiet moments when no-one is around and it is just Root and his own thoughts and his own memories of collapse after collapse.
So far he has always come back with the same determined answer that yes he is. And for a time it was easy to believe him on the grounds that no England captain had won as many Test matches as he had, and up until the start of 2021 his team were secure at home and middling on tour.
However since their trip to India in 2021, when they broke up the Test team on the grounds of well-being and continued to prioritise white ball cricket and IPL contracts, the side has fallen off the edge of a cliff. The demands placed on players have been onerous with bubble life taking its toll while the ECB have ensured that their commercial and broadcasting commitments at home have been fulfilled.
But they have not embraced the challenge that the last 18 months has brought. It has all been too hard to look after the basics, bit by bit and incrementally getting better. They have looked beyond the here and now.
Obsessing about the Ashes rather than the contests in front of them, be it New Zealand or India at home where they failed to win either series for the first time since 2001. They have gone from being a team capable of victories, bypassed the stage of being hard to beat, and are now there for the taking whoever they play.
There have been issues beyond Root’s control such as injuries to key players such as Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, but there have also been plenty of self-inflicted mistakes too, be it selection, or strategy and game management. Ultimately though the players themselves have not been good enough.
Whether it is new players coming into the environment who have found the gap too wide, or proven performers who have been maddeningly inconsistent. What is plain though is that they are bottom of the World Test Championship for a reason even if it seems as though Root and interim coach Paul Collingwood can’t quite accept it.
There is a sense that they think they are a better team than that and it won’t be long before they are moving northwards. The numbers are not lying. There are systemic changes in the game that could help, and these have been well covered, and it is why there is a domestic review underway.
But the new managing director and head coach, whoever they may be, must deal with the tools they have and they need to get the best out of the players available, who have talent, but crack under pressure so often. And they need to work out quickly whether Root can do that.
It was also an extraordinary act of hubris to dispense with the services of James Anderson and Stuart Broad on this tour too and suggest they still had more than enough to beat the West Indies at home. Whether they admit it or not, that was a move that only made Windies coach Phil Simmons’ team talks easier.
Time and again England come to this part of the world and underestimate their hosts. Twice it has happened to Root now, and twice he has been thrashed in Australia. There is a pattern here.
