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Former England batter Mark Butcher has sort of questioned the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to bring Joe Root back as England’s Test captain , replacing Ben Stokes. The ECB confirmed Root’s appointment on July 31 after Stokes retired from Test cricket last month following England’s home series defeat to New Zealand.

The ECB took its time, before announcing Root as the new Test skipper. On the same day , it also named Stephen Fleming as Brendon McCullum’s successor as head coach. While the board is hoping Root will steer England into a new era, Butcher is not sure the switch will really help the side.

Root’s first spell as England’s Test captain has produced mixed results. Even though he’s still among the world’s finest batters in both Tests and ODIs, his captaincy didn’t quite give the kind of success England were expecting, in the end.

Root captained England in a record 65 Test matches. In that stretch they registered 27 wins, 27 defeats , and 11 draws too. His captaincy began quite strong, like back-to-back home Test series victories, but England’s performances sort of slowly slipped, as the side went through that awkward, difficult run.

Even with a win rate of 41.53 percent, and after overtaking Michael Vaughan as England’s most successful Test captain by number of victories, Root stepped down. He did it after England managed just one win in 17 Tests , and yeah that run also brought a heavy Ashes series loss to Australia.

After Ben Stokes became captain, Brendon McCullum took charge as head coach, and Rob Key arrived as director, England’s outlook finally shifted. Their attacking approach changed how England do Test cricket. Still, Butcher feels reappointing Root is a kind of step backward rather than continuing the momentum the team has built in recent years.

Butcher also made the point that Root has kind of flourished as a batter ever since he stepped away from the captaincy. And without all that extra responsibility, Root has kept turning in match winning kind of performances. He then wondered if Root can still keep that same standard, now that he’s facing again that sort of pressure that comes with steering the side.

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Butcher stated Sky Sports: "Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum, Rob Key were the reaction to Root’s captaincy the first time around. This revolutionising of the way we play Test match cricket came off the back of 17 Test matches with only one victory under Joe."

The former England cricketer also said that, in hindsight, white ball captain Harry Brook might have been a better choice to lead the Test group. Butcher’s view was that if England let Root concentrate on just batting, that would’ve been the best route, really.

He again added: "The best thing that happened to him and his game was not being captain anymore. His batting since has been on a different level, and I rather hoped it would stay that way, and he would be a loyal lieutenant to Harry Brook or whoever they decided was going to get the job permanently."