While Root admitted frustrations with the performance of his side, he underlined his unwavering passion for the role and suggested better results were not far away. He also remained confident he retains the support of the players and coaching staff
Joe Root has insisted he will not step down as England's Test captain despite another series ending in disappointment.
Defeat in Grenada meant England lost the series to West Indies 1-0 and extended their winless streak to five successive series. That is a new record.
But while Root admitted frustrations with the performance of his side, he underlined his unwavering passion for the role and suggested better results were not far away. He also remained confident he retains the support of the players and coaching staff.
"I am very passionate about taking this team forward," Root said. "I made that clear ahead of the game and that is not going to waver.
"The most promising thing is the good things that appeared and how close we are. I know this is a results based business, but it does not feel like we are far away from turning results.
"I think, yes, absolutely, I have the support of the coaches. As always, you use the people around you that you trust [to ensure he is doing the right thing]. That's been the case since I took the role on. I've a great group of players that have got a brilliant attitude.
Joe Root leads his team off after defeat in Grenada (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
"I think I've spoken quite enough on the subject if I'm being honest."
Root's frustrations are based on the belief that, for much of the first two Tests, England looked as if they were making progress as a team. But, with the series to be decided in Grenada, they appeared to buckle under pressure, leaving Root to accept that was an area ripe for improvement.
"It is frustrating," he said. "For the majority of this series, we played so much good cricket and made big strides forward as a team. We showed improvements in a number of different areas but, two-and-a-half sessions of bad cricket has really let us down. It has cost us the series and that is such a frustration for myself and the whole group because we have done so much good throughout his trip.
"It would be easy to look at Saturday in isolation and let that overshadow some brilliant cricket. Credit to West Indies, they took their chance and jumped on it. Our frustration is that we did not do it when it mattered.
"We are making strides forward as a team, but those two important sessions have cost us and that is the area we have to keep looking at: making better decisions more frequently under pressure as a batting group.
"We showed in the first series of the first Test match we can do that. We found ourselves in a pressure situation and the guys stood up so we know we can do it. We have just got to do it more frequently and that is where frustration lies because everyone has proved they can do what it takes to win Test matches. That is reason why it is so frustrating because we feel so close."
Root did accept, though, that the new coach and managing director – both of whom are expected to have been appointed ahead of England's next Test series in June - could have different ideas about the captaincy.
"It's really out of my control what goes on in that department," he said. "All I can control is having the opportunity to lead this team, throwing everything at it, doing anything I can to help England win. That's not going to change. I'm very passionate about being the man to take this team forward.
"It hurts [to lose]. We're fans as much as anything. We want England to win. With the group we have it makes me very passionate. We're doing a lot of things well. Let's not let yesterday's performance overshadow the great things that have happened on this tour."
West Indies claimed a 1-0 series victory (Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)
Asked to clarify those "great things", Root mentioned Jack Leach, Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence among others.
"There's a number of individual performances that have been really pleasing," he said. "Guys like Jack Leach, who stepped up and became leading wicket-taker in the series. Some young batters came in and scored hundreds, too. Zak Crawley in that first game.
"And the fact that we scored so many hundreds in the first two Tests is a big step forward as a batting group on the back of a very challenging 12-16 months in that department.
"There's the excitement of someone like Dan Lawrence and of Ben Stokes looking somewhere close to his best. There were two debutant seamers in Barbados who showed they're capable on a very unresponsive wicket.
"The attitude of the whole group was good, too. The way we stood up for long periods of time and didn't waver. We kept throwing everything we could, especially out in the field. They're the things that give us a lot of hope going in to the summer."
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