Root shifts focus and says ‘Bring on Aussies’ By Nick Hoult
English cricket will move on quickly from the World Cup victory when the selectors meet tomorrow to pick the squad for the first Test of the summer.
The panel, chaired by Ed Smith, will meet at Canterbury on the final morning of the Lions match against an Australia XI. The squad for the Test match to be played against Ireland, starting on July 24 at Lord’s, will be announced in the afternoon and assemble at St George’s Park, the England football training base, on Saturday. The squad for the first Ashes Test, starting on Aug 1 at Edgbaston, will be picked during the Ireland match.
Mark Wood sustained a side injury during the World Cup final on Sunday and will have a scan this week. There are fears he could face a significant lay-off. With James Anderson also injured (calf strain) and Jofra Archer nursing a side niggle, Stuart Broad will lead the attack against Ireland.
England will also have to decide whether to rest Chris Woakes after his World Cup exertions. Sam Curran and Toby Roland-jones are believed to be under consideration for call-ups. Joe Root, the captain, wants his players to have featured in red-ball cricket before the Ashes, so it is a tricky decision for the selectors. Jason Roy will make his Test debut against Ireland, opening with Rory Burns, while Joe Denly is expected to bat at No3.
For four years, the England and Wales Cricket Board focused its energies on white-ball cricket in a bid to win the World Cup. Now it will redress the balance by making Test cricket the priority and winning the inaugural Test Championship.
The new central contracts begin in October and are more heavily weighted towards Test cricketers. The red-ball-only contracts will rise from £475,000 to £650,000. England will look to blood new faces in the Test series against New Zealand in October, which does not count towards the Test Championship. It will be a chance to rest some established players.
The Ashes series marks the start of the competition. Countries will play six series, three home and three away, that count in a league. The top two will contest the Lord’s final in June 2021 and it will be embarrassing if England do not qualify, even though they are currently ranked fourth behind India, South A frica and New Zealand.
Root, who confirmed he would play against Ireland, has his focus now on regaining the Ashes. “It would be the pinnacle. It’s what we set out to do at the start of the year. And we’re halfway there. A lot of hard work to go, but hopefully we can do that.
“We’ve a week before we meet up as a group and start to prep properly for it,” added Root about the first Ashes Test. “But there’s been a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes to make sure we’re ready when that comes around. It always is so special: the atmosphere; the two weeks leading in; the way it builds; the way the guys get excited about it. It’s like no other series in Test cricket. It will be massive. Especially on the back of this.”
Ben Stokes looked fragile at the Oval yesterday as England celebrated winning the World Cup with local children. Stokes and the players had a long night celebrating their win before arriving at 11am.
The all-rounder did not play in the last Ashes series in Australia due to his legal troubles and was badly missed as England lost 4-0. He will feel he owes the team a debt and his man-of-the-match performance in the World Cup final should motivate him to seize the moment in the Ashes.
Root would have had a very difficult job lifting the players if they had lost but now he will be hoping for a World Cup bounce, with Stokes leading the way.
“That’s the thing. Being in professional sport, and cricket in particular, you ebb and flow with your emotions. Winning and losing games, you’ve just got to wipe the slate clean,” said Stokes. “We’re going to enjoy the next two days because we deserve it. Everyone here deserves to feel like a champion, but when it comes to the Ashes, it’s going to be heads on. We may be world champions, but we also want to be Ashes winners as well.”