Australian documentary 'motivates' England skipper Root for Ashes
31 March, 2020
England Test captain Joe Root has said watching the first few episodes of a documentary about the Australian cricket team is a "motivator" ahead of the 2021/22 Ashes RIGHT HERE.
'The Test' charts Australia's progress from the low of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa to the most of retaining the Ashes in a drawn series in England last year following the hosts and eventual champions beat them in the World Cup semi-finals.
The largely well-received documentary in addition has been accused of being a public relations exercise given Cricket Australia had editorial control.
But with cricket suspended worldwide because of the coronavirus pandemic, Root made a decision to take a look.
"Whilst we were away (on tour) I exhausted most of the shows that I needed to view, it's come round to watching that now," he told reporters in a conference call on Monday.
"It's been an excellent motivator to reunite and train, get back on the bike, utilize it as a way of incentivising myself.
"I've only surely got to the beginning of the World Cup, so we'll observe how the rest of it unfolds."
Root, while acknowledging the importance of the World Test Championship, made clear an Ashes series in Australia remains the acid test for an England cricketer.
Under his leadership, England were beaten 4-0 in the 2017/18 Ashes.
But Root said the threat posed by famous brands fast bowler Mark Wood, man-of-the match in the fourth Test victory against South Africa, added an "X-factor" to England's attack.
"We've observed in South Africa which has played a component, it has found us a method to take 20 wickets in foreign conditions."
- 'Hardened' -
Embracing top-order rising stars Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope, Root added: "If we can keep putting experience into a number of the young batters as well, give them game time, then we're beginning to build a team which has confidence, experience, is ready and hardened for the challenges Australia will throw at us."
England followed the drawn Ashes campaign with a 3-1 series win in South Africa only to see their tour of Sri Lanka abandoned prior to the first Test as a result of coronavirus.
"There are more considerations to concern ourselves with," said Root, now a patron of his local Sheffield Children's Hospital.
"But from a cricketing viewpoint we were preparing ourselves well for the two Test matches in Sri Lanka and we made big strides in South Africa."
Root, while acknowledging there will be talks regarding leading players taking pay cuts to greatly help English cricket balance its books at the same time without fixtures, said "it isn't my area of expertise".
But he added the chance of the 2020 season being abandoned completely had "definitely crossed my mind".
"It might be that my partner has to start out giving me some throw-downs in the back garden but until things become that drastic it'll be simply sit tight and wait," said Root.
Asked if his wife was giving him throw-downs, he replied: "Not yet. I'll execute a lot of fielding and given Alfie (Root's son) a whole lot of throw-downs. He's about 500-4 at when, tiny flat track here.
"I haven't picked a bat up yet, so I'm sure at some time I'm going to be raiding the garage and shadow-batting inside your home."
But Root stressed it had been impossible to replicate the surroundings of the dressing room.
"You spend a long time working towards something collectively so when that comes back round, it's an extremely special thing.
"At times you may take that for granted, specially when you play just as much as we do."
Source:
TAG(s):