Joe Root says he is honoured, privileged and very excited after being named England's new Test captain this morning. As Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed, talks between Strauss and Root took place over the weekend and he accepted the new role shortly afterwards. He takes over the England team just over four years since making his debut as a player in India. Strauss, the team director, chose Root after canvassing the opinion of other senior players including Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler. "It is a huge honour to be given the England Test captaincy," said Root, who will hold his first press conference on Wednesday. "I feel privileged, humbled and very excited. "We have a very good group of players and I'm looking forward to leading them out in the summer, building on Alastair's achievements and making the most of our talents in the years ahead. "The senior guys in the changing room play a very influential role and whilst there's a natural progression for me it's a huge support to know that they are there to help and advise." Ben Stokes has been named vice-captain as the new generation of England players takes over formal leadership roles. Root's promotion has been expected ever since Alastair Cook signalled he could be standing down at the end of the India tour. Cook was given time to consider his decision as Strauss did not want Root to be distracted by the Test captaincy during the one day series in India. Cook stood down last Monday, just a couple of days after the one-day team returned. Strauss met with Root last Thursday along with James Whitaker, the chairman of selectors, and spoke on a conference call with Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, who is at home in Australia. Root has plenty of time to come to terms with his new job. England now play one-day cricket until the end of June with their next Test series not starting until July 6 against South Africa at Lord's. A four Test series against South Africa follows before three Tests against the West Indies and then the Ashes tour starting in November. Root turned 26 in December and is young by England captaincy standard. He has little captaincy experience beyond a few games for Yorkshire but that is the nature of modern cricket with the international schedule crowding the calendar. But he has played 53 Tests and has been England's leading player for the last two years and was appointed Cook's deputy in 2015.
