‘Gutted’ Root bats away talk about his future as a captain
ENGLAND captain Joe Root says it would be “selfish” to focus on his own future after losing the Ashes in crushing fashion but accepts widespread changes are required to fix the Test side.
England self-destructed on the third morning in Melbourne to hand Australia victory by an innings and 14 runs as well as a decisive 3-0 series lead, turning in their worst batting effort yet in a trip littered with limp displays.
They were knocked over for a humiliating 68 all out, their lowest total on Australian soil since 1904, as debutant seamer Scott Boland tore through their line-up to finish with remarkable figures of 6-7.
The result capped a dreadful run of results for the Test team under Root, which has become the first England side to lose nine games in a year.
Having kicked off 2021 with three successive wins in Sri Lanka and India, England have now triumphed just once in their next 12 Tests.
Root now sits level with predecessor Sir Alastair Cook on the most matches as England captain - 59 - and it would be no surprise if he comes to the conclusion he has reached the end of the road.
However, with two more games to go in Sydney and Hobart, the 30-year-old is focused on lifting his side off the canvas.
“I cannot be selfish and start thinking about myself,” Root said when quizzed about his future.
“I am in the middle of a very important series. My energy has to be all about trying to win the next game. The series is not over yet.
“We have two very big games and, more than anything, it would be wrong to look past that.
“That is all we have to focus on and that applies to me as well as captain of this team.
“We need to put pride back into the badge, to give people back home something to to celebrate from this tour.
“It is bitterly disappointing to be 3-0 down but with two Tests to go we have to come away from this tour with two wins.”
Root was England’s top scorer again, albeit with a meagre 28, and became just the third player in history to break 1,700 Test runs in a calendar year.
Sitting behind the great Sir Viv Richards and record holder Mohammad
Yousuf is a proud achievement for a player in careerbest form - but the slings and arrows which come with leading a side which cannot match his level mean he cannot enjoy the moment.
He added: “I am absolutely gutted, bitterly disappointed to find ourselves in this position.
“You turn up today, you walk out with Ben Stokes and you feel like anything’s possible.
“To find ourselves in this position, everyone in this dressing room is gutted, it is as simple as that. I cannot really add any more.”
Root did tiptoe lightly into the debate about the quality of cricketer being promoted from the county game.
The quality of batting, in particular, has come under scrutiny this year with Root’s nearest challenger on the run charts, opener Rory Burns, sitting 1,178 adrift.
Root accepted players were arriving at England level ill-equipped for the challenge of Test cricket.
He said: “That that is a long conversation which should probably be had at another time but I think the best 18 players from the county game are on this tour.
“The only place you can learn is in the hardest environment, with what is a young batting group.
“They are having to learn out here in the harshest environments.
“You look back at 2015 and the reset which happened in white-ball cricket and maybe that is something which needs to happen in our red-ball game as well.”