Following Vaughan 's retirement, England were briefly captained by Kevin Pietersen before Andrew Strauss took on the role permanently following Pietersen 's resignation. Strauss became the first captain to lead England to victory in a Test series in Australia since 1987, as well as taking them to the number one ranking in the summer of 2011. Strauss announced his resignation and retirement following the relinquishing of the top ranking to South Africa in 2012, with One Day International captain and Strauss 's deputy Alastair Cook named as the replacement. Cook became England 's longest - serving captain in terms of matches, winning two home Ashes series but also overseeing heavy losses in Australia and India. He stepped down in early 2017 to be replaced by Joe Root.
who is the captain of england in test match
Joe Root