Joe Root admits England descended into “chaos” before he returned as the Test captain and believes things are back on track after sealing a cricket series whitewash over Pakistan on Saturday.<\/p>\n
England survived a scare before Root and Jordan Cox scored unbeaten half-centuries to knock off the target of 130 and win the third Test at Edgbaston by eight wickets with five sessions to spare.<\/p>\n
The dramatic retirement of Ben Stokes in June followed by coach Brendon McCullum being stripped of his red-ball responsibilities briefly left the Test side with a worrying leadership vacuum.<\/p>\n
Root, who served as skipper for five years before standing down in 2022, accepted the captaincy again and, in concert with interim coach Marcus Trescothick, brought a hat-trick of comfortable wins at Leeds, Lord’s and now Edgbaston.<\/p>\n
The partnership steadied the ship ahead of Stephen Fleming’s arrival as McCullum’s long-term successor.<\/p>\n
The Kiwi is due to arrive in the country in the coming days and Root believes he will find a team that has put its turbulent recent past to one side.<\/p>\n
“There’s been a lot of chaos around this series before a ball was bowled,” Root said.<\/p>\n
“The way we’ve handled it on and off the field, the way everyone understands what is expected of them, both as a player and how we want to carry ourselves, is a really good thing.<\/p>\n
“It’s been a very unusual summer, hasn’t it? We had a resignation mid-series, there has been a few off-field incidents and we’ve got a new coach. Whether you call it chaos, whether you call it unusual, whether you call it unsettling, all of those are fair.<\/p>\n