No rest for Root with T20 call-up
JOE ROOT is surprisingly set to be named tomorrow in England’s squad for the Twenty20 triangular series against Australia and New Zealand even though it would appear the perfect opportunity for him to rest.
The Daily Mail revealed last May that the management and coaches saw the shortest form of the game as the best chance for Root to recharge his batteries in light of the crippling schedules for cricketers who play in all three formats.
But he wants to play in the next World Twenty20 in Australia in two years’ time and is loath to give up his place to one of the many emerging batsmen waiting for their opportunity.
There is also the probability of earning big money in the Indian Premier League, even though it would add to the enormous workload of a Test captain who has endured a gruelling Ashes series.
The Mail on Sunday understands Root may be rested instead during the 50-over matches in New Zealand that follow the tri-series in February but there is a 50-over World Cup in England next year and Root is integral to that.
England need to protect Root and other important players from themselves for the sake of their longevity as schedules are showing no signs of getting any shorter. But the problem they have is telling him that he cannot earn the millions his contemporaries from other countries do, those who do not have the same international demands.
England have already, contentiously, said Ben Stokes can enter the IPL auction later this month, which raises the prospect of him earning millions while being suspended from representing his country. It seems most of England’s senior players will play in the T20 matches, which is a surprise at the end of a soul-destroying Ashes.
Stokes will also be named in the squad but that is because England do not want to be seen to be prejudicing his on-going criminal investigation and he will not travel while the Crown Prosecution service is yet to decide whether or not he should be charged with assault.
And there may be fewer changes than first expected in the squad for two Tests against New Zealand in Auckland and Christchurch in March that bring to an end one of England’s most demanding winters. The Mail on Sunday understands only the places of James Vince, Jake Ball and reserve batsman Gary Ballance will be up for discussion by the selectors before revealing their hand on Wednesday, even if England go on to lose this final Test and end up on the back of a 4-0 scoreline.
When the late night drinking incident in Perth that saw Ben Duckett disciplined first emerged, a furious coach Trevor Bayliss talked of throwing out the regular party animals in the squad even if it adversely affected results.
Even last week Bayliss name-checked Liam Livingstone, Dan Lawrence and Joe Clarke as three Lions batsmen in contention for a trip to New Zealand.
But there is a feeling the ‘penny has dropped’ among the England squad over the changes to their world that took place when Stokes became embroiled in an incident outside a Bristol bar in September.