England

Joe Root's ailing Test team ended their winless winter with defeat in the West Indies. Sportsmail's LAWRENCE BOOTH considers whether England should stick ...

The whispers are that the management do not trust him — in which case why pick him in the first place? YES (but only at home) His skill with the old ball could prove vital in the years ahead and he showed pluck with the bat too. YES (but not as captain) Zak Crawley: A second-innings hundred in Antigua seemed to pave the way for a breakthrough series but that will never come if he keeps playing big drives before he has got the pace of the pitch. But a strike-rate of 27 suggests he needs to add a stroke or two to his repertoire.

Gareth Southgate says it would be “hugely unfortunate” if Harry Kane was to break the England goalscoring record in a match where supporters were banned.

All of the players are also in a part of the season where they’re coming in off a heavy load of games and are going back into important games, so this is one of those occasions when it works for us and the clubs when it comes to sharing the load. “Frankly we have seen and had enough of games behind closed doors but for both countries it is a punishment because our fans and their fans weren’t able to control themselves. Gareth Southgate says it would be “hugely unfortunate” if Harry Kane was to break the England goalscoring record in a match where supporters were banned.

Former England captain Michael Atherton said current skipper Joe Root should step down following Sunday's 10-wicket defeat by the West Indies in the ...

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Set just 28 for victory after dismissing the tourists for 120 in their second innings, openers Kraigg Brathwaite (20) and John Campbell (6) knocked off the runs ...

We're doing quite a lot of good things - we just need to turn that into results now." It is because of them that I've won this award." "I wanted to trust my tailenders - all the credit goes to them.

Joe Root may be "passionate" about remaining as England's Test captain but should he stay in the post after the West Indies inflicted the latest damaging ...

Former skipper Nasser Hussain accused "world-class batsman" Root of lacking an "instinctive feel for the game as captain" and being party to a "cop-out" following England's controversial decision to leave James Anderson and Stuart Broad -- their two all-time most successful Test bowlers -- out of the squad for the Caribbean. "As was obvious to anyone who was present in Australia, and should have been obvious to anyone who wasn't, Root has reached the end of the road as captain," Atherton wrote in The Times. But a thumping 10-wicket defeat in the third and final Test against the West Indies in Grenada on Sunday condemned England to a 1-0 series loss after two draws.

Kane is four off Rooney's record but Southgate would happily wait until the World Cup final to see his star strike reach 54 goals.

“The initial Nations League campaign and playing against the Dutch in the semi-final of that. “Without a doubt he has all the attributes to be a captain. “We want to keep all of the squad involved and we think that’s very important,” he said. Meanwhile, Southgate believes midfielder Declan Rice has “all the attributes” to become an England captain. “I don’t think [Kane] will worry where he is playing in terms of the opportunity to break the record,” Southgate said. “But that would be hugely unfortunate [if it happened in an empty stadium]. The games behind closed doors, frankly we have seen and had enough of them, but for both countries it is a punishment because our fans and their fans weren’t able to control themselves.