England captain Joe Root (Getty Images)
Joe Root’s remarkable achievements with the bat continued at The Oval, but England’s crushing defeat to New Zealand also saw the former captain add another unwanted entry to his record book.Having recently crossed 14,000 Test runs and becoming the first batsman to score 2,000 Test runs against New Zealand, Root now finds himself level with former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming for the second most number of defeats as a Test captain. England’s 253-run loss at The Oval was the 27th defeat of Root’s career as captain, leaving him behind only South Africa’s Graeme Smith, who has 29 losses.
However, the numbers become even more surprising when viewed through the lens of loss ratio.
Root has reached 27 defeats in just 66 Tests as captain, giving him a loss rate of 40.91 per cent. Fleming’s 27 losses across 80 Tests came with a loss rate of 33.75 per cent, while Smith led South Africa in 109 Tests and finished with a much lower loss rate of 26.61 per cent despite holding the record for the most defeats.Most matches lost as Test captain
| Rank | player | difference | Career scope as captain | Captain tests | lost | loss % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graeme Smith | South Africa and the International Criminal Court | 2003-2014 | 109 | 29 | 26.61% |
| 2 | Stephen Fleming | New Zealand | 1997-2006 | 80 | 27 | 33.75% |
| 2 | Joe Root | England | 2017-2026 | 66 | 27 | 40.91% |
| 3 | Brian Lara | West Indies | 1998-2006 | 47 | 26 | 55.32% |
| 4 | Alan Border | Australia | 1984-1994 | 93 | 22 | 23.66% |
| 4 | Craig Brathwaite | West Indies | 2017-2025 | 39 | 22 | 56.41% |
| 4 | Alistair Cook | England | 2012-2016 | 59 | 22 | 37.29% |
| 5 | Mike Atherton | England | 1993-2001 | 54 | 21 | 38.89% |
| 5 | Jason Holder | West Indies | 2015-2020 | 37 | 21 | 56.76% |
| 6 | Misbah Al Haq | Pakistan | 2011-2017 | 56 | 19 | 33.93% |
Root resigned as England Test captain in April 2022 after a difficult period in charge.
But he returned for the second Test innings against New Zealand after regular skipper Ben Stokes was suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for breaching the team’s midnight curfew and getting involved in a drunken brawl in a nightclub.The ECB’s decision to hand the captaincy back to Root rather than vice-captain Harry Brook became understandable once England’s selection issues arose.
Along with Stokes, fast bowler Jos Atkinson was unavailable after also being involved in the nightclub incident, while Ollie Robinson missed the match through injury.These absences forced England to field three players for the first time on a ground that favored a more experienced side, and New Zealand made the most of the opportunity.The visitors scored 391 in the first innings before bowling England out to build a 100-run lead.
New Zealand then amassed another 361 in the second innings to set England an impressive target of 463.Any hopes of an unexpected chase quickly disappeared on the morning of the fifth day. England resumed the match with the score at 182/5 but lost their remaining five wickets in just 48 minutes when Matt Henry was passed down the order.Henry finished with sensational figures of 6-29 in the second innings and 11-109 in the match, recording his first ten-wicket haul in Test cricket and the best match figures by a New Zealand bowler against England.
England were eventually bowled out for 209, handing New Zealand a solid 253-run win and leveling the series before the decider in Nottingham.Root was England’s last major hope on the final morning, but he added just two runs to his score overnight before Henry trapped him for 77, effectively ending the home side’s resistance.Although Root is now level with Fleming on 27 defeats, his defeat percentage of 40.91 per cent is significantly higher than that of both Fleming and Smith, highlighting why the captain’s record remains one of the most scrutinized among contemporary Test captains.