The captain of the English Test wants challenges after a ‘quiet summer’ with the baton
After turning 30 earlier in the week, and facing a special year as a captain who will enter his 100th Test and finish in England’s efforts to get the ashes back in Australia next winter , Joe Root is hopeful he could be on the verge of some of his best years as a bat.
England have won all three of their last three test series – something they last achieved when they rose to No. 1 in the ICC rankings back in 2011 – but without major donations from their captain. Root averaged 41.61 against South Africa, the West Indies and Pakistan, with the highest score of 68 not out, and his last came on a New Zealand tour in November. 2019, but said he was encouraged by the challenge of leading from the front ahead of six Tests in Sri Lanka and India.
“I hope so,” Root said when asked if he felt like he was entering his prime years. “I have worked as hard as ever to do that. As a player you are always striving for evolution and development. It is one thing that you always get to know and learn more about the game and your own individual game, how to manage situations, I have to try to pull all of that together and give myself the best chance to progress and score to do.
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“I’m delighted with what we’ve come up with. It’s a really interesting record with a bit of hard cricket involved, and good chances throughout.
“It was a very frustrating summer where I didn’t get to go at all but I feel like my game is in a very good place and there is something big around the corner. He is patient, enjoys me as much as I can and enjoys leading an ever-improving side. That’s the interesting thing, the amount of cricket we have this year is very rare and something we haven’t been to in a while – a lot of cricket in Asia, which is a big challenge.
“The next set or two will be a great measure of where we are as a team and as a captain you want to lead by example. In terms of motivation, there’s plenty for me to go out and get big scores. of turning point it ‘s a mental thing, i have to make sure when i reach 50 i will be greedy, selfish and make those starts count. I have to keep working hard to get in those positions, knowing that I am a good enough player to turn them into game-winning donations. “
While England won 3-0 in Sri Lanka two years ago, they will return with a very different squad – missing the likes of Ben Stokes (rest), Rory Burns (on his father’s leave) and Adil Rashid (managing) shoulder issue in the long run)) – and Root suggested they would be “naïve” to try to reproduce the same formula as last time.
“It’s going to be a little bit different,” he said. “What we need to take is confidence and credibility, the positive elements of it. We were excellent in many ways to win 3-0. But I’m sure the conditions will be different and The shape of their team is different, with a new coach, a captain, and we make up very differently to our squad as well, so it would be naive to expect the same, we have to be smart, see what’s in front of us, and play to our strengths.
“We have some really talented players – you saw in the summer, on the surface at Old Trafford with unruly spinning, we have players down the order that can control that and run big scores, as do archers at the top. can take advantage of that and people with experience from the last trip in Sri Lanka. We are confident that we can achieve both great benefits but also be aware of the talent and challenges that Sri Lanka throws at us. “
On the question of the best XI in England, Root pointed out that Jos Buttler, who just got his second-half test on their last visit, against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl in August, was his preferred option. as a keeper – although it was by the grim nature of England ‘s trip to the subcontinent that is likely to force more circulation, Ben Foakes is expected to have another chance to implement his bid at some point.
“When it comes to choosing the teams, we’ll look at the conditions, we’ll consider everything and we’ll make a call when we’re out there,” said Root. Our Jos Buttler comes off the back of 150, perhaps in some of the best form you’ve seen in test cricket. As far as I’m concerned, it has to be a very special situation to change that.
“Jos, as a senior member of the squad in great form, was an integral part of our success at the end of the summer. I am delighted that he will take that form forward.
“For Ben, at some point it looks like an opportunity could arise in the round, and when he gets that opportunity he has to take it. We can pick a team today or tomorrow – there are so many situations if we can find ourselves between now and that first game, it wouldn’t be wrong to rule out anything in terms of making up that first XI right now. “
Alan Gardner is deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick