England captain Joe Root has spoken out following his side's series defeat to the West Indies and mounting pressure over his future as skipper.
Under Root's leadership, England have won just one of their last 17 Test matches and failed to win any of their last five series for their first time ever in their history. As a result, he has faced calls to step down, with the likes of Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton and Steve Harmison urging him to quit.
However, Root appears keen to continue as captain and help turn England's fortunes around, insisting he 'believes in the future of this team'. In a post on social media, Root wrote: "A difficult defeat to take because I really think there were a lot of positives to come from the way we played for the vast majority of this series.
"Thank you to our amazing fans out here in the Caribbean and congratulations to Kraigg and his team. After a long winter, it's time to take a break and recharge ahead of the summer, but I believe in the future of this team".
When asked about his future as captain following England's ten wicket loss in Grenada, Root told BT Sport: "I think I've 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 is ever in your hands completely. 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.
"I thought the attitude throughout the whole thing's been brilliant. In that respect we've definitely made big improvements, and that has to continue.
"There are so many good things that we can take away from this, of course we came here to win and we've not, and that's frustrating, it's disappointing. But if we're going to keep learning and keep growing as a team, and if we're going to start winning, then we've got to keep that approach."
England now have a two-month break before they return to action in what will be a busy summer of cricket. Their Test series against New Zealand will begin on June 2 at Lord's.
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