England in West Indies: Tourists' series defeat feels like the end of an era - Jonathan Agnew

England's 10-wicket defeat by West Indies was a thoroughly deflating experience for anyone interested in English cricket.

England have billed this as a new era, talked about a better atmosphere, but in the end it was same old, same old.

They were hammered in three and a half days, with another chaotic batting collapse thrown in for good measure. From that perspective, nothing has changed.

It leaves the team in a very fragile position.

There is no managing director and no head coach, only a beleaguered captain hanging on by his fingernails.

You could not help but feel a sense of an end of an era in Grenada — but Joe Root will not resign.

He has said as much and still has that sparkle when you look in his eyes — he wants to do his best for the team.

However, there comes a point when you have to stop and ask whether him continuing is in the team's best interests.

These things do come to an end. Like in football, teams tune out from what they are hearing from a manager. Have this team tuned out from Joe Root as captain?

Only they will know, but it would not surprise me if, when the new coach and managing director is in place, they decide to move on with a new captain.

One thing is for certain, after a run of one win in 17 Tests, after the Ashes defeat and now this loss, Root's future as captain is out of his hands.

A colleague in the press box said to me that this defeat reminded them of the Oval Test of 1999 against New Zealand, when Nasser Hussain's England team were booed by their own fans.

On that occasion captain Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher came together and took the team forward.

It does feel like that again because there are so many holes in the whole structure of English cricket, and on the field England have a