Joe Root should be asked again if he truly wants to stay on as England captain, according to former skipper Michael Vaughan.
As England toiled in the early stages of day three of the third Test against West Indies, Vaughan said England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chiefs should sit down with Root after the series in the Caribbean.
The ECB is advertising for an England men's team managing director, but Vaughan says a priority should be the captaincy.
England's bowlers struggled to make inroads in the latter stages of West Indies' innings on Saturday, allowing Joshua Da Silva to reach a maiden Test century and the hosts to open a 93-run first-innings lead.
Vaughan questioned the vitality of the England players, a number of whom are still carrying scars from the team's 4-0 Ashes drubbing.
Interim managing director Andrew Strauss said after England's Ashes calamity that Root was "absolutely clear" he wanted to keep the captaincy. However, Vaughan thinks the time has come to ask again.
"I think the biggest meeting first and foremost is to sit with Joe Root, and really look him in the eyes and say, 'Have you got the energy?'," Vaughan said on BT Sport.
"There comes that moment as England captain that the energy is not with you. You're still going out there, you're still trying your best, but you've not got the energy. If he has got the energy, then I would stick with him. But if he's lost that energy and the real drive and that desire… As a captain, you have to wake up every morning and it's got to be your love, captaining the England side.
"If you've lost that ounce of any kind of loving it, you've got to give it up. If he's lost that desire and love to captain England, just be the batter, because he'll score as many runs, and he'll still be a great leader in the side.
"I can see an England captain that looks a little bit drained."
Vaughan said of England's morning performance, as West Indies advanced from 232-8 to 297 all out: "It looked an England side, and England captain, that looked very, very tired."
He praised the home team's efforts in frustrating the tourists, but added: "I'm pretty sure there'll be a lot of England fans out there watching the telly, throwing things at the screen and thinking, 'I could do a lot better than that'.
"It was just a little bit of a lack of imagination. It concerned me a bit about the skipper this morning, I didn't think he tried enough, didn't try himself early enough."
Part-time spinner Root eventually brought himself on to bowl and took the final wicket, having Jayden Seales caught and bowled.
"As a captain in those kinds of situations, you've got to be so energised, you've got to be on your bowlers, you've got to be on your team, you've got to be creating ideas, creating angles," said Vaughan. "I didn't see enough of that this morning."
Root's difficult day got worse after lunch when he was caught at slip for five off Kyle Mayers to leave England 27-2 in their second innings.
Emerging Ireland secures 3-0 50-over series sweep over West Indies Academy with four-wicket win
Emerging Ireland secured a four-wicket win over the West Indies Academy to complete a 3-0 sweep of their 50-over series in Bready on Friday.
The tourists, after being out in to bat, were guilty of not using up their allotted overs as they were dismissed for 236 with all of seven overs to spare.
Ackeem Auguste led the way with a 68-ball 81 including 10 fours and two sixes while Joshua James hit 26* off 25 balls.
Skipper Gavin Hoey led the Irish charge with his leg-spin with 4-45 from his 10 overs while medium pacer Olly Riley took 3-38 from nine overs.
Emerging Ireland then needed only 39 overs to reach 238-6 and secure victory and a 3-0 series triumph.
Morgan Topping led the way for the hosts with 46 while Seamus Lynch hit 45* off just 28 balls including six fours and two sixes.
Chris de Freitas and Scott MacBeth also had solid contributions with 38 and 36, respectively.
Captain Nyeem Young took 3-56 from nine overs for the Academy.
The teams will now turn their attention to a pair of four-day games from June 18-21 in Comber and June 25-28 in Belfast.
Euro 2024 social round-up: Mou and Fergie link up, Pickford's quiz and Pavard the photographer
Euro 2024 hosts Germany got off to a flying start as they comprehensively dispatched Scotland 5-1 on Friday.
Goals from Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Niclas Fullkrug blew Scotland away at the Allianz Arena.
But while the football entertained, there was also plenty of action on social media.
Here's a pick of the best posts.
The special... two?
Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson enjoyed a great rivalry on the touchline down the years, but there was no sign of that as the two watched on from the stands in Munich.
Unfortunately for Ferguson, Scotland were on the receiving end of a hammering.
We can only wonder what these two greats had to say about Scotland's sorry performance, though surely they will have been full of praise for Germany.
Honouring a great
Franz Beckenbauer passed away in January, and ahead of the opening game, his wife Heidi led a touching tribute to der Kaiser.
Moral support
Nathan Patterson is not fit to feature for Scotland, but the Everton full-back has travelled out to Germany to support his team-mates.
Unfortunately for Scotland, it didn't quite work out, and Patterson will be needing to provide plenty of moral support after their heavy defeat in Munich.
Pickford gets quizzed
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was fulfilling his media duties on Friday, and he stopped by to answer some fan questions ahead of the Three Lions' opener against Serbia.
Pickford was quizzed on how he copes with the pressure as kick-off approaches - "Enjoy the moment", he said - while revealing former England shot-stopper Joe Hart, who retired last month, has served as an inspiration.
Young guns exciting Schweinsteiger
Bastian Schweinsteiger helped Germany to World Cup glory in 2014, so it feels like he is pretty well placed to pass judgement on up and coming stars.
And when asked on X for the players he was most excited to see in action at Euro 2024, the former Bayern Munich midfielder picked out Florian Wirtz, Cole Palmer and Rafael Leao.
Wirtz certainly delivered, as he starred in Germany's big win over Scotland. Will Palmer and Leao be equally as impressive for England and Portugal respectively?
Picture perfect
Olivier Giroud is one handsome devil, so it's no surprise that he's a photographer's dream.
That being said, it's rare that the person behind the camera is one of his team-mates, but Giroud could only smile, and offer a cheeky pose, as Benjamin Pavard sneakily grabbed a camera and tried to get the perfect shot while the France number nine was holding a press conference.
USA qualify for Super 8s as Pakistan are eliminated
The United States have qualified for the Super 8s after their T20 World Cup match with Ireland in Florida was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Only an Ireland victory over tournament co-hosts USA could have prevented the Americans' progress to the next round, but no play was possible on Friday amid a flash-flood emergency in the region.
There were multiple pitch inspections, but the umpires ultimately concluded no play was possible due to the wet outfield.
USA secured a win over Canada in the opening match of the tournament before pulling off an almighty upset to beat Pakistan, who are now eliminated because of the washout, as are Canada.
The outcome also means Ireland are out, although their hopes had already looked slim after losses to India and Canada.
India are expected to finish top of Group A, having beaten USA in their last match to secure a third successive victory.
Rohit Sharma's side will do battle with Australia, Afghanistan and a team from Group D – most likely to be Bangladesh – in the next round, though they still have one more pool match to play against Canada on Saturday.
USA are poised to enter Group 2 of the Super 8s along with fellow hosts West Indies and South Africa. The final spot in that section will be filled by either England or Scotland, depending on who progresses from Group B.
As a result of reaching the Super 8s in this competition, Monank Patel's USA team are also now guaranteed qualification to the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka.
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