ROOT’S BRAVE BLUEPRINT TO BANISH WINTER BLUES
Skipper wants spinners to lead from front on tour
Joe Root has challenged england’s test players to think outside the box in a bid to overturn their horrendous away form.
england take on Sri Lanka next month, having achieved just one series victory in their last nine tours and gone winless in 13 matches stretching back to october 2016, when they beat Bangladesh by 22 runs in Chittagong, where conditions meant both teams opened the bowling with spinners.
that is something Root says his attack have to be prepared to reprise when the three-match series begins on November 6 in Galle, given Sri Lanka’s tactics at home.
‘It’s something for the guys to start thinking about right now,’ said Root. ‘they should be aware that bowling with the new ball might be a serious option for me. I’d like to think the guys are thinking ahead like that and are clever enough to do it.
‘More than anything, it is getting your mind right for it and being open to it as a serious consideration and a strong option.’
Somerset slow left-armer Jack Leach is accustomed to such practice at taunton and Moeen Ali was one of those who opened in Bangladesh two years ago.
‘We have to be smart about what formula we use and how we go about things; how we look to break Sri Lanka down on that surface and how we look to attack them with the bat as well — to make more runs than them consistently and take 20 wickets,’ added Root.
england finished the summer against India with what Root concedes was a ‘peculiar’ line-up given the presence of so many all- rounders. However, he attributes three of the wins in the 4-1 series victory to the depth across batting and bowling.
‘You saw in the last test, Adil (Rashid) hardly played an integral part throughout the whole series, but the fact we had that luxury in the locker was vital in winning that game. He turned that test on its head,’ the england captain said. ‘We have a really good side who can play in all conditions.’
those sentiments go against recent evidence, of course, but overturning the overseas hoodoo could lead to england rising as high as second in the test rankings.
only one england team — Nasser Hussain’s vintage of 2000-01 — have won a test series on Sri Lankan soil and Root will have to do so without the retired Alastair Cook. england have selected Surrey’s Rory Burns, whose devotion to crease occupation will draw comparisons to Cook, but also Joe Denly, whose more expansive game may be better suited to the team’s intended evolution under Root.
‘ there was a period where one-day cricket moved to using two balls and you saw a big change in how that was played,’ Root continued.
‘Around that 2015 World Cup, some sides adapted quicker to it and carried that success through the tournament, whereas sides like ourselves probably reacted to it a bit later but got up to speed.
‘test cricket is in a transition period. It will take a brave side to find a formula that is consistent and works around the world but in time we will see a more mirrored image of how one-day cricket is played. It is not a bad thing.
‘It will not reduce games to two or three days if you get surfaces right, but I can imagine it will be great fun to watch and make for a great spectacle.’
the smart money is on Moeen continuing to bat at No 3 in Sri Lanka, though there has been talk in team meetings of a need for greater flexibility in the order this winter.
It would be prudent to allow Moeen more recovery time, for example, if he has bowled 25-30 overs in sapping humidity.
‘We have very versatile players in that middle order who can interchange positions depending on the situation and the surfaces. It is going to be really important we are smart and play to our strengths,’ said Root. ‘ We should not be shy of doing things differently — because what we have done in the past hasn’t worked and I think it is really important we are brave and bold and go out and give ourselves a chance of winning rather than hoping what we did before works.’
Joe Root is working with Village Hotels to launch a community volunteering project.