GIVE IT A BASH
As Joe Root flies out to Oz today to play T20, Nasser Hussain explains why he is right to...
JOE Root has two items on his agenda today. First, he will sit in on selection for the new year tour of the Caribbean. Later, he jets off to australia to play for Sydney Thunder at the Big Bash.
While everyone will agree one is his duty as England captain, some will argue that such a position of responsibility means he should not be embarking on the other, coming as it does in the build-up to a joint ashes and World Cup year on home soil.
Old-timers would no doubt argue that the country’s Test captain and best batsmen shouldn’t be heading Down Under to play but resting for those big events. However, I am afraid this is an outdated view and those days have gone.
In modern cricket you don’t just become an international cricketer, you become a global player. I never hear of Virat Kohli or his fellow Indians complaining of fatigue, either mental or physical. Yes they are bloody well paid and they all love their IPL deals with the wealth they bring. Equally, though, I never hear them asking for a rest.
Leading cricketers have schedules like golfers nowadays. a golfer would look at the schedule for the year and decide which tournaments to play to be right for the majors. The same for a cricketer preparing for the ashes and the World Cup.
What is the one area of his game Joe needs to work on? Power hitting. Where is the next Twenty20 World Cup? australia. I couldn’t think of a better place on the planet to be than Sydney with his family over the festive period.
at this moment in his career it is perfect.
You have to think about the bigger picture. The old fogey in you might question him playing Big Bash and then being rested from a one- dayer or the Ireland Test match next July say. But look at the bigger picture: is it making Joe root a better cricketer? Well it should do and knowing Joe he will throw his heart and soul into it. He won’t go to sit on Coogee beach. This will all be about him improving. Down the line he might well feel a bit jaded. He might look back and wonder whether he needed to go but given the choice of a few weeks there or freezing cold in Sheffield it is a no-brainer.
I see Kohli and Kane Williamson, men whose illustrious company Joe has kept as an international batsman over recent years, and they have taken their games on by playing these big T20 tournaments. Having been snubbed at the IPL auction earlier this year, this is a chance for him to do so.
and it is certainly not about the money because as England captain he could have stayed home and earned more from personal appearances than the five-figure sum he will receive.
NO, From what I know of Joe, it won’t be the financial carrot he’s interested in. He will have asked whether it is right for him. He is managed by a very good man in neil Fairbrother and they will have gone through the pros and cons of this venture in between England tours.
He is a superb 50-over batsman and was obviously irked by being left out of England’s Twenty20 team last summer — that much could be told from his bat-drop celebration after completing backto-back hundreds against India.
and it is why I believe this is not just a commitment to an australian franchise. Such is the depth of white-ball batting in England right now, he is looking over his shoulder for when it comes to selection for that 20- over World Cup in 2020. This shows determination to be in that first- choice XI — and if he succeeds it will undoubtedly have been in the national interest.