Joe Root vows to carry on as England captain despite chastening defeat by West Indies

Joe Root insists he wants to continue as England captain despite intense speculation over his position.

England were thrashed by 10 wickets in the Test series decider by West Indies in Grenada on Sunday. 

England have now lost four Test series in a row – five if the unfinished India series which Root’s side trail 2-1 is included – and are winless in nine matches. 

Former England stars Steve Harmison and Michael Atherton urged Root to resign after the latest debacle.

But Root told BT Sport: ‘I think I made it quite clear at the start of this game and throughout this tour I’m very passionate about trying to take this team forward. I will control what I can.

‘I don’t think it’s ever in your hands. I feel like the group are very much behind me, we’re doing a lot of really good things and we just need to turn that into results now.’

Ben Stokes consoles England captain Joe Root after the crushing 10-wicket defeat

Root added: ‘There’s frustration at how it’s finished. Throughout this series we’ve played some really good cricket. We’ve shown what we’re capable of as a group.

‘I think we grew over the first two games as a batting group, we’ve taken big strides in that department and shown what we’re capable of.

‘Yesterday really let us down and hurt us, it was an important day within the series and we just didn’t stand up to it well enough.

‘And unfortunately we find ourselves in a position where we’ve ended up losing a series where we played so much brilliant cricket.’

West Indies completed a 10-wicket victory over England to take the Test series 1-0