Root still crook but likely to play ODI
JOE Root is expected to be fit to play in Sunday’s one-day series opener against Australia in Melbourne, as he recovers from the illness that hospitalised him during the fifth Ashes Test.
Root is still feeling the after-effects of the stomach bug, which forced him to retire hurt twice on the final day in Sydney with bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea.
The 27-year-old returned to training yesterday, but only had a light run around and warm-up before returning to the team hotel — just three days after spending six hours on the field in record-breaking Sydney heat.
The Test captain is not expected to play in England’s warm-up match against a youthful Cricket Australia XI today, but team officials say he’s recovering well enough to take his place on Sunday.
“He’s obviously a lot better than he was on Monday,” wicketkeeper Jos Buttler said.
“He’s up and about so I think a few more days and his bug should have gone.” CRICKET’S law makers say Sunday’s record-breaking Ashes heat could have seen play suspended if umpires wished, but claim it would have been a “PR nightmare”.
Temperatures reached above 47C in Sydney on Sunday, with readings near the SCG recording the highest figures for an Ashes match in Australia.
Root’s illness prompted former Australian batsman Dean Jones, whose famous double-century in the 1986 tied Test in India left him on a drip, to question whether play should have been abandoned.
But the Marylebone Cricket Club’s head of cricket, John Stephenson, said there are already rules in place for umpires to remove players from the field if conditions are unreasonable or dangerous.
“That brought the whole situation to a head, 47 degrees. It would have been a bit of PR nightmare when you have a full house at the SCG,” Stephenson said. “For a Test match when you’ve got a massive crowd out there, although player welfare is absolutely paramount, I think there are ways of managing it.”