Joe Root spills beans on 'unhealthy' England cricket truth

Joe Root has made a shock admission about the toll the England captaincy took on him mentally, after steering his side to victory over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's.

Root made history after becoming the quickest English player in history to reach 10,000 Test runs, after producing a world class century to help his side beat the Black Caps by five wickets.

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The star batter's 26th career century saw him join Sir Alastair Cook in an exclusive group of just two Englishman to pass 10,000 Test runs.

Speaking after the first Test triumph, a relieved Root said the England test captaincy had taken a toll on his personal health.

The 31-year-old stepped down as skipper in the aftermath of England's 1-0 series defeat in the Caribbean in March, which came on the heels of a disastrous 4-0 loss against Australia in the Ashes.

Root described the latter stages of his England captaincy as a "very unhealthy relationship" after his unbeaten 115 helped England chase down 277 at Lord's and take a 1-0 lead against New Zealand in the three-Test series.

"It had become a very unhealthy relationship, to be honest - the captaincy and me," Root told reporters

"It started to really take a bad toll on my own personal health. I couldn't leave it at the ground any more; it was coming home. It wasn't fair on my family, on people close to me, and it wasn't fair on myself either."

Root, who was been replaced by Ben Stokes, led England in 64 tests, winning 27 and losing 26 during his five-year tenure.

The Yorkshire batsman said he was keen to help Stokes succeed in his new role and make England a test force again.

"I had thrown everything at it and I was determined to help turn this team around but I realised over that time at home that it would have to be in a different way," added Root, who also reached 10,000 test runs on Sunday.

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Root is just the second England player after former teammate Cook to reach the milestone.

Cook, who is fifth in Test cricket's list of all-time leading run scorers with 12,472 runs, said Root would surely go on to surpass him.

"He is a pleasure to watch, the most complete England batsman I have seen," Cook told the BBC on Monday.

"The person who could play the most incredible innings was Kevin Pietersen, but for the most complete batsman in all three forms, it's Root. His consistency is incredible.

"Barring injury, he'll go miles past my record."

Root's magic touch with the bat also extended to an incredible incident that lit up social media and left viewers suitably baffled.

During England's second innings, fans spotted a bizarre moment involving Root and his bat, which was picked up on broadcast before a delivery.

During Kyle Jamieson's run-up, eagle-eyed viewers noticed Root wasn't holding his bat, which incredibly remained upright.

While Root was conjuring some magic on the pitch, many joked he had produced some magic off it to help his bat stay upright.

The incredible footage left fans in a frenzy on social media.

The second Test between England and New Zealand gets underway at Trent Bridge on Friday.

with agencies

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