Root: I won't rip up Bazball blueprint

England's returning Test captain Joe Root is looking to "evolve" Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes' team; the Yorkshireman believes he is a "different person" to when he gave up the captaincy after West Indies defeat in 2022

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>England captain Joe Root says he does not want to "completely rip everything up" from the Bazball era after becoming Test captain for the second time in his career.

>The 35-year-old Yorkshireman has been reappointed as Test skipper following the retirement of Ben Stokes and the arrival of new coach Stephen Fleming.

>Root led England between 2017 and 2022, captaining them a record 65 times. He left his position after managing just one victory in his final 17 matches, as well as a 4-0 defeat in The Ashes.

>England's style became much more attacking under McCullum and Stokes, but it had taken somewhat of a sour turn before the former was sacked and Stokes left. However, Root says he will not run away from 'Bazball'.

>Speaking to the ECB, Root said: "Since 2022 we've done some amazing things.

>"We'll try to continue a lot of the good stuff we did over that period and not finding ourselves back to where we were before Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Ben [Stokes] took over, and evolving and tweaking things to where we want to be and really competing against the top nations consistently."

>Root's appointment raised some eyebrows given the nature of his previous departure from the captaincy, as well as fans sighting worries over the role affecting his batting.

>His average as skipper during his last stint was almost seven runs below an average of 53.34 without the 'armband'.

>However, Root believes a lot has changed since he stepped down - including himself.

>"[I'm] hugely different, anyone that says in an eight-year period they were the same person they were [at the start] is probably lying," he said.

>"Whether it be within the game, away from it, all the experience you have along the way throughout that period you will be shaped into a slightly different person. I think that will be very similar in how I want to take this team forward."

>Fleming, former captain of the New Zealand national team, recently left his role as head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings to join England's Test team.

>Asked about working with Fleming, Root said: "We've spoken briefly and if I'm being brutally honest he was a big reason why I wanted to do it.

>"I'm very excited by the way he sees the game, where he sees us sit as a team and the work we have to do to get to where we want to get to.

>"All of that got me very excited about taking this role on. Very much looking forward to working with him and he's obviously got a wealth of experience, done some amazing things in the game as a player and as a coach.

>"I'm looking forward to the next little while and us trying to build something pretty special together."

>Root takes charge for the upcoming three-match series against Pakistan this month.

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