Stokes for captaincy as fans call for wholesale changes after dismal Ashes

England are looking to avoid an embarrassing Ashes whitewash after crashing to a series defeat already

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Root accepts England need wholesale changes after Ashes defeat

England fans have called for wholesale changes to the side’s leadership once the Ashes comes to an end.

Joe Root’s side have endured a dismal tour, losing the series inside just 12 days of cricket, and they now face a fight to avoid an embarrassing series whitewash.

After matching the record for the most Test losses in a calendar year in 2021, England fans that responded to a recent Mirror Cricket survey are keen to see things change once the series finishes.

Just 9.1% of fans believe Chris Silverwood should keep his job as England coach, with an overwhelming 90.9% believing the 46-year-old’s position is now untenable.

There was more of a split over whether Root should remain as captain but the majority of fans believe he should also step aside, with 57.5% of respondents stating the time is right for a new captain to take over.

However a sizeable portion of fans – 42.5% – believe that Root should continue in his position.

That perhaps represents the lack of viable alternatives in a position to takeover from Root.

When asked who should replace Root if the Yorkshireman opts to step down as captain, 43.3% of fans said talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes should take the reigns.

Yet Stokes himself said this week that he has no ambition to be captain and backed Root to continue.

He said: “I’ve said I’ve never really had an ambition to be a captain.

“That’s totally Joe’s decision. He shouldn’t be forced into doing it.

“I’m sure Cooky felt the same way. He did it for so long. When he knew his time was up, his time was up.

“Those discussions haven’t even entered anywhere near Joe yet.”

If the captaincy position did become available, there would also be concerns over Stokes’ workload should he take control of the team, with the 30-year-old an all-format player who also spends two months of the year in the IPL.

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The idea of a specialist captain has also been mentioned, and this is an option that a large percentage of fans backed, with 18% of respondents arguing that Eoin Morgan should be entrusted to rebuild the Test side, as he has done with England’s limited-overs teams, leading them to World Cup glory in 2019.

With Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Rory Burns, Dawid Malan and Ollie Robinson also offered up as captaincy options, 16.4% of fans said they would prefer another option not listed, perhaps suggesting fans would like to see a player from outside the England set-up come in to captain the side, with James Vince a name that has been floated by some due to his experience at leading Hampshire.

For now, though, England’s focus will be on avoiding a series whitewash, with the fourth Test set to start this evening.

Yet fans are pessimistic over England’s chances, with 89.9% of fans backing Australia to win the remaining two Test matches.

Agree with these results? Have your say in the comments below.