JOE GOES FOR THE KILL Ruthless Root wants to send Ashes warning
City fury at financial doping claim
JOE ROOT has called on his England side to show the “killer instinct” as he seeks to gather momentum going into the Ashes.
A five-wicket defeat at Headingley allowed West Indies to level the series at 1-1 with one to play at Lord’s, starting today.
But Root not only wants the win, he wants his inconsistent side to show a ruthless streak and send a message Down Under that MANCHESTER CITY have threatened the boss of La Liga with a legal fight after he accused them of helping a Spanish club to flaunt financial rules.
President of the Spanish league Javier Tebas claimed City’s parent company were “cooking the books” of topflight club Girona by giving them loan players at below Australia are in for a fight this winter. “We were very disappointing at Headingley but it just shows that at different points in time Test cricket will always test you no matter who the opposition are or how well you’ve played in previous weeks,” he said. “You have to go out and have that killer instinct at every opportunity – if you are slightly off the boil or not at your best it will cost market rate. Five City players are on loan at Girona, in whom City Football Group bought a 44 per cent stake this year.
Tebas said the Spanish club had undervalued the players – Pablo Maffeo, Aleix Garcia, Marlos Moreno, Douglas Luiz and Olarenwaju Kayode – to give themselves extra leeway you. We set out on every series wanting to go out there and win and of course that momentum would be great going into this winter.
“Ultimately we want to finish off what has been a really good summer for us.”
England have turned to Middlesex seamer Toby RolandJones, left, as they seek to wrap up the Investec series.
That means no place for Chris Woakes, dropped after a slightly below par performance with the ball in Leeds. Root said the decision was made purely with in the 80million euros budget they have this season under La Liga rules.
City branded the claims “ill-informed” and “fiction” and said they were considering legal action but Tebas says he TEBAS: Accused City of ‘cooking the books’