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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Nasser Hussain and Steve Harmison deliver verdict on Joe Root's future as England captain

Joe Root has come under fire as England captain after his side suffered a 1-0 series defeat to the West Indies.

Under Root's leadership, England have won just one of their last 17 Test matches. They have also failed to win any of their last five Test series for the first time in their history.

However, Root remains adamant that he wants to continue in the role, telling BT Sport: "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."

Despite Root's insistence that he wants to remain captain, former England players Nasser Hussain and Steve Harmison believe the time has come for him to step down. Hussain, who led England for 45 Tests between 1999 and 2003, feels current vice-captain Ben Stokes would be an ideal replacement.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain wrote: "Joe Root may have won more Test matches than any England captain but only one of those victories has come in his last 18 games now and the time has come for a change at the top.

"For me the England captaincy was the best job in the world and it is not one you keep doing simply because there is a perception no-one else is capable of taking over. We are talking about the England captaincy. It is too important for that.

England captain Joe Root (Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

"Root is a world-class batsman and a very likeable lad but I feel he has never had that instinctive feel for the game as captain. If Joe does not decide to step down himself the decision should be taken out of his hands.

"Then the new coach should sit down with Ben Stokes and ask him where he is off the field mentally and where he is with his game. Ben seems to be playing with passion and fire again and if the coach likes what he hears from him then Stokes should get the job."

Harmison, meanwhile, believes Root needs to leave the role "for his own mental sanity", telling talkSPORT: "My opinion is he needs to do it himself now for his own good. It’s not affecting his game as he’s still scoring runs, but I just think for his own mental sanity it’s time to get out of there, unfortunately."

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