Joe Root dismisses concerns that England captaincy is affecting his batting
Skipper Joe Root has ignored suggestions that captaincy is affecting his batting before England’s bid to level the Ashes series in the Kia Oval.
Root, 28, averages 30.87 in the series before the fifth and final Evaluation and has yet to score a hundred, even while in contrast former Australia captain Steve Smith has chalked up 671 runs at 134.20.
Before he took more than Alastair Cook at February 2017, Root uttered 52.80 with the bat, but that amount has fallen to 40.90 because – a duck in each of the previous three Ashes Tests contributing to a 2-1 series deficit.
But when asked by Sky Sports if he feels that the captaincy impacts his batting, Root stated:”No. It has been a challenging year for batting on either side. I’ve not performed as I’d have liked but that’s part and parcel of Test cricket.
“You have got to keep trying to discover ways of counter-acting hard passages of drama and decent bowling. I’ll keep trying to work on this and attempt to improve my game.”
Out-going head coach Trevor Bayliss defended Root’s captaincy on Wednesday, saying:”He has not come under question from anyone making any decisions. He’s under no pressure at all.”
Root stressed that he is completely focussed on trying to secure a series-levelling win from Australia before embarking on what he hopes will succeed winter excursions of South Africa and New Zealand.
He explained:”In terms of my own captaincy, I know the way I wish to take this team forward in and it is about starting that today rather than following this series – trying to be certain that we utilize this as a stepping stone; win this particular game and then have a very powerful winter and move forward as a team.”
Australia go using kept the Ashes at Old Trafford and captain Tim Paine claims his side don’t have any intention of having a string win – that the vacationers calling Mitchell Marsh to get Travis Head up.
England have made 2 changes in their own with all-rounders Sam Curran and Chris Woakes returning in the expense of seamer Craig Overton and opener Jason Roy, also Root says that the hosts are all determined to finish the summer on a winning note.
“We have not lost anything yet,” he explained. “Obviously, we are disappointed not to win the Ashes back but we’re completely focused on making sure that we do everything we can to complete the series 2-2.
“We have got an opportunity to level this string and make it marginally better than it appears right now. So we’ve got to be certain that we win this game that’s the complete attention of the group.
“And there’s the Evaluation Championship points to perform as well, which down the line can make a massive difference, so there is plenty to play for.”
View the fifth and final Ashes Test live on Sky Sports The Ashes from 10am on Thursday and follow along over-by-over comment and in-play clips on skysports.com along with the Sky Sports App.
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