The DJ at the Grenada National Stadium is revelling in the West Indies series victory and the volume on the music system is so loud it can be heard down the road in the island’s capital, St George’s.

Joe Root has just suffered a fifth successive series defeat. His team have won just one Test in 17 and he has to raise his voice to be heard over the din, defending his players and insisting once again he wants to carry on as Test captain, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

What he does next many within the England set up will say sums up the man. As he packed his kit bag in the Devon Smith pavilion he remembered a promise he had made earlier in the tour when everything was going so well (in his mind).

He digs out his batting gloves, recalls the name of the young England fan they are destined to go to (probably helped his name was Joe), signs them and hands them over to one of the photographers who regularly travels with England and had asked for the favour.

To the very end, even when he was at his lowest, Root’s decency, humility and recognition that he was fulfilling every childhood dream by captaining England, never left him.

He won more Tests than any other England captain but without landing a major series. He had three stabs at the Ashes, lost two, drew one. He broke the mould by being a captain who arguably, improved as a batsman rather than wilted under the pressure of the office.