GREATNESS IS GABS UP FOR
Captain Root’s rallying cry as he urges his troops to end their Gabba drought, pile pressure on the Aussies and make history
JOE ROOT has called on his team to become Gabba greats and pile the pressure on an Australian team suffering under the weight of history.
It has been so long since the Baggy Greens lost in Brisbane that only his trio of record-breakers James Anderson, Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad were alive when it happened.
But with the Australians coming out with more and more outrageous comments before a ball has been bowled, Root has sensed that maybe they are the ones feeling the heat.
In fact, David Warner was pleading with the weather gods for an increase in the temperatures, since it has been more Batley than Brisbane as the rain has fallen and is set to continue through the game.
“A win would certainly put them under a lot of pressure because they haven’t lost here for such a long time,” said Root. “That is our main goal, we are going to go to try and upset that. We fully believe we are more than capable of doing it.
“One thing Australia did very well last time was talking up certain things and they delivered. But this is a completely different tour and a completely different series.
“There are players saying things that a lot of the time is just a load of nonsense. It’s about making sure that we look after ourselves now.”
Root has cut a relaxed figure throughout the past four weeks.
English captains have coped in wildly different ways to the pressures of Ashes cricket, but after being given the summer to settle in, Root has led with an easy authority. And it is clear that he has learned the right lessons from four years ago as a young player.
“Last time we came here from a year when we hadn’t lost a Test match and with guys who had won a lot of Ashes cricket,” he said.
“I think it was a massive shock and we struggled to come back from that.
“This time it is a completely different set of players against a completely different Australia side.
“We’re pretty clear on our team and very clear on how we are going to approach it.
“We have plans for their team and we have been very thorough about how we want to break their side down.
“There are ideas we think which will work really well, but ultimately it is about how we mentally get it right ahead of the game. That is where it is really going to count.”