What now for the future of English Test cricket?

After yet another disappointing series for England, questions will inevitably now start to be asked. Is Joe Root the right man for the job? Will he say enough is enough and will resign? Or will somebody from above take this tough decision?

So many questions, but will we get the right answers? Only time will tell. English red-ball cricket is now at a low that the nation has not witnessed for a while.

England went into this recent series against the West Indies talking about a new era, a better atmosphere, but eventually it ended up the same old, same old.

They were hammered in three and a half days in the deciding test of a series that on paper they had a good chance of winning. Yet another chaotic batting collapse ensued. How many times have we written those horrifying words, ‘another batting collapse’?

Not for the first time in a series English batsman have struggled with scoreboard pressure. The team at the moment are bereft of confidence.

There is no head coach and managing director to guide this current crop of players. With a captain who is looking shell shocked at the way England keep capitulating in matches, is it any wonder the future isn’t rosy in the garden?

A run of just one win in 17 tests coupled with an Ashes 4-0 defeat is a sorry tale.

But before we start calling for Root’s head, we must face the fact that the selection committee decided before the tour of the Caribbean that this was going to be an experimental side.

However, to go into any series- especially after getting hammered in Australia- you need to bounce back and in order to do so, you certainly needed to have some experience at hand.

To leave out both Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson was a massive gamble that backfired. Even just taking one of the experienced pair would have improved this England bowling lineup.

Admittedly, England went into this series minus the services of Jofra Archer and were so unfortunate to lose the services of their one genuine quick bowler, Mark Wood, towards the end of the tour through injury. Ollie Robinson was another who had to miss the final test with a back problem.

Having said that, it isn’t just the bowling department we have to look closely at. The batting is still as fragile as ever. This ongoing problem constantly rears its ugly head.

How many more times are we going to look at a scorecard and see England three down for not many runs on the board? Poor Root constantly has to walk to the middle in yet another England crisis. His batting has certainly not been let down by the burden of captaincy.

However, there have been some positives on this recent tour of the Caribbean. Alex Lees looks like an opener who can actually occupy time at the crease. Dan Lawrence also appears to be ready-made for Test cricket.

Ben Stokes is beginning to get back to his best, with Saqib Mahmood looking the part with the ball. Matt Fisher was taken to the Caribbean and performed well.

But the crux of the problem with English cricket at the moment is we haven’t got the calibre of players who can make the leap from playing county cricket to the next and highest level, Test cricket.

This problem will only be rectified when the powers that be realise that we have not only to prioritise white-ball cricket but red as well.

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