Joe Root will be given support from the ECB top brass to continue as England captain despite a second unsuccessful tour of Australia.
Root is understood to be keen to continue beyond this shambles of a tour, but wants to see some significant shifts in how the Test team is treated, both in terms of the domestic structure as well as in the national setup.
And with serious change required in the game to get Test cricket back on track, Root is seen as the man to lead that revival.
The England captain was locked in talks with ECB chief executive Tom Harrison in Melbourne on Wednesday when he should have been contesting the fourth day’s play at the MCG.
The fact wasn’t lost on Harrison who visited the dressing room, but decided against making a speech to the entire team during the sombre atmosphere under the giant MCG bowl after their defeat, but he knows there are key decisions to be made on the future of the Test team.
Instead he addressed players and support staff individually before agreeing to meet Root to hear of his plans for the future of the team that is likely to include a new head coach.
It is perhaps telling that Harrison was speaking directly to Root rather than to the supremo Chris Silverwood who was at the MCG nets working with the squad players as well as the top three batsmen who were blown away in an hour of mayhem on day two.
Silverwood’s job is on the line over the next three weeks and it would remarkable were he able to stay on regardless of the results that follow.
Former England batsman Rob Key made it plain that he thought Silverwood was “out of his depth”, but more importantly that view is one that appears to be shared within the squad and that will be impossible for him to survive.
