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Root flags England Test structure reset

3 minute read

England captain Joe Root has raised the possibility of an overhaul of the Test side, similar to the one that revolutionised the country's limited-overs teams.

JOE ROOT
JOE ROOT Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Joe Root is desperately hoping he can find a silver lining out of England's shambolic Ashes tour.

If recent history is any guide, it could come in the form of drastic change after the visitors' latest humiliation in Australia.

England's failed 2015 World Cup campaign Down Under - in which they lost to Bangladesh and couldn't get out of the group stage - sparked an overhaul of the country's limited-overs team and support structures.

Perhaps, Root pondered after England's meek surrender in the Boxing Day Test, it is time for a similar review in the longer form of the game.

"The best 18 players from the county game are definitely on this tour," Root said.

"There are some very talented players within this squad and we have to just keep looking to find ways of of upskilling ourselves and each other and managing pressure points within the game better.

"That's a big part of this game. It's a big part of that unfortunately, with where the game is at in our country right now, the only place you can really learn that is in the hardest environment for what is quite a young batting group.

"They're having to learn out here in the harshest environments.

"Maybe you look back at 2015 and the reset that happened in white-ball cricket, and maybe that's something that needs to be happening in our red-ball game, as well."

The white-ball overhaul saw Peter Moores sacked as coach, replaced by Trevor Bayliss, with Andrew Strauss appointed the new director of cricket. Eoin Morgan was retained as captain.

Despite Root being far from England's worst Ashes performer - averaging 42.16 with three half-centuries - the skipper is facing pressure to retain his post after overseeing a disastrous tour so far.

He swatted away the inevitable questions about his future as captain in the aftermath of the innings and 14-run defeat at the MCG, which left England 3-0 down in the series.

"I'm in the middle of a very important series," Root said.

"My energy has to be all about trying to win the next game.

"I can't be selfish and start thinking about myself.

"I think more than anything you've got to keep looking to do everything we can to get the players in the best possible place to go and win Test matches.

"That's a big part of captaincy ... you've got to ready the players, try and instil that belief in every single one of your team and your squad - more than ever now going into the last two games."

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