Joe Root: England match-winner had 'unhealthy relationship' with captaincy
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Root century inspires England victory over New Zealand
England's first-Test match-winner Joe Root said he stepped down from being captain because he had a "very unhealthy relationship" with the job.
In his first match since resigning, Root's 115 not out gave England a five-wicket win over New Zealand and took him past 10,000 Test runs.
The victory at Lord's came after a period when England had won only once in 17 matches.
"It meant a huge amount to me - it felt like a long time," said Root.
Root took over as England captain in 2017 and led in a record 64 Tests.
However, despite becoming the best Test batter in the world, he was unable to prevent England's form from unravelling.
A 4-0 Ashes series loss was followed by a 1-0 defeat in the West Indies. Initially, Root was adamant he wanted to carry on as captain but stepped down in April, with Ben Stokes taking over.
"I was unaware of how much it was grabbing hold of me," said the 31-year-old.
"It had become a very unhealthy relationship, the captaincy and me. It had started to take a bad toll on my own personal health. I couldn't leave it at the ground any more, it was coming home, it was not fair on my family, people close to me or myself either.
"As soon as I made the decision I knew it was the right thing to do. I felt like a big weight had been lifted. It's been a huge privilege and something I'm hugely proud to have done, but it's time for a new phase in my career."
Watch best of Root's 115 not out against New Zealand
Root's masterful century, his first in the fourth innings of a Test, rescued England from 69-4 in their pursuit of 277.
When he reached three figures on Sunday morning he also achieved the 10,000-run milestone - the 14th player in the history of the game to do so and second Englishman after Sir Alastair Cook.
However, Root said that earning the victory was more important than his personal success.
"When you walk through the Long Room and you're high-fiving the rest of the group, you can see the genuine joy and elation on their faces, that's the thing I've missed the most over the last year and a bit," he added.
"It's one thing I'm really looking forward to seeing a lot more of this summer."
Root's knock gave England victory in their first Test under the new leadership team of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
As he left the field, taking the acclaim of the Lord's crowd, Root was seen wiping tears from his eyes.
"To see him walk off there, 115 not out, leading the team to victory, and the emotion of winning a game for England in his first game after stepping down as captain was amazing to see," said Stokes.
There were some familiar failings in England's performance. Wickets fell in clusters and their bowling lost its threat when the ball did not move.
However, veteran seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, along with debutant Matthew Potts. made excellent use of the new ball.
Root, Stokes and Ben Foakes also made telling contributions with the bat and England's fielding showed a big improvement.
"It's my first game in charge and we've won," added Stokes. "It's a great start, but there are going to be ups and downs and it's just about dealing with that.
"It's going to be really important how we operate when things don't go well. That is when we'll really have to show what we're about."
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