England cricketing great Ian Bell has said that while there has been talk about Eoin Morgan be given Test captaincy, he feels that any other cricketer who comes in place of Joe Root will fare just the same as the incumbent Test skipper.
England have lost the Ashes after Australia took a 3-0 lead in the five-Test series, defeating the tourists by huge margins in all three games. There are calls back home to remove Root and appoint white-ball captain Morgan — the most successful T20I skipper in the world — to lead the Test team as well.
While his form was patchy in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE, Morgan guided his team to the semifinal where it lost to New Zealand.
“I know there’s a lot of talk at home (about) Eoin Morgan… Eoin Morgan would not get better results out of this England Test side. I can’t sit here and blame Joe Root, I think he’s amazing. He’s carried this team for too long now with the bat… We could put Ricky Ponting as captain for this England side, he wouldn’t get any better results and he’s the best I ever played against,” Bell told sen.com.au’s Sportsday on Friday.
While the 31-year-old Root can partly be blamed for his side’s failure to reclaim the Ashes, he has led from the front as a batter, averaging 42 through the first three Tests, including three half-tons.
“I do feel that a lot has been thrown at Joe Root, and yes sometimes there are tactical things, but he’s also got all the best bowler we’ve ever had in Jimmy Anderson out on the field as well, so we can’t always blame Joe for tactical decisions. There are some experienced guys out there, they’ve got all the data analysis and all the coaches they need,” said Bell.
Bell, who has played 118 Tests for England scoring over 7,700 runs, is not happy with Root being targeted for the collective failure of the team.
“I do get that for an Ashes the captain is the focal point, but for me I look at this and Joe has gone above and beyond in carrying this group for so long now.”
Root has an enviable record as a batter, finishing 2021 with the third-most number of runs in a calendar year, and Bell says the decision to leave captaincy should be left to Root.
“I think it’s up to Joe what he wants to do with the captaincy if I’m honest with you. If he wants to carry on, I’ll back him on that. But we could get to a point where he turns around and says, ‘Enough is enough, I will go back to Joe Root the batsman, I’ve given my service to England’. He’s done incredibly well, by the way, I know the losses have come but he’s also won more games than any other captain for England,” added Bell.
