NEWS
Follow UsEngland skipper Joe Root, despite his side’s grim showing in the first three Ashes Tests, believes his side could leave Australia on a high, and is of the opinion that it will be key for the Three Lions to wrestle the momentum early in the fourth Test in Sydney, starting January 5th (Wednesday).
England have already surrendered the urn to Australia, having lost the first three Tests of the five-match series, but pride and World Test Championship points will be at stake in the final two Tests.
Root, ahead of the fourth Test, asserted that it will be key for his side to play good cricket for sustained periods.
"You can dwell on what's happened so far or we can look at the opportunities that present themselves in the immediate future," Root said ahead of the SCG Test, reported ESPN Cricinfo.
"That can be the making of some sides and the start of something, that's the approach we'll have to take.
"Whatever we're presented with here in two days we have to make sure we are on the right side of that and make sure we try to wrestle that momentum early on the Test match then drive it home," Root said.
Covid cases in Australia are on the rise and England, especially, have been affected by the virus, with several members of the coaching staff either isolating due to having caught the virus or being a close contact. The team, in fact, will be without the services of head coach Chris Silverwood for the fourth Test.
Root admitted that the havoc caused by Covid has made things “challenging and disjointed”, but insisted that lying ahead for his side is an opportunity to prove that they are a far better side than what their performance across the first three Tests indicated.
"With the amount of coaches we've had missing, it's made things slightly disjointed and challenging," Root said. "But it's an opportunity for us as a group to come tightly together, help each other prepare as well as we can do, and stand up in a bit of adversity and use that in a positive way when we get out there.
"We are all feeling for those guys sat in isolation desperately wanting to help us turn things around and we've got an opportunity in these two games to do that. We have to make sure we stand up and show we are a better team, which I know we are, than we've produced so far on this tour.
“See that as an opportunity, don't see it as a heavy burden, see it as a real chance to make some big Test runs, win a game with ball in hand and walk away from the trip with something."
When quizzed about his position as captain, which many believe has become untenable, the 31-year-old claimed that he will reassess it after the tour, with him unwilling to “waste energy” over it during the middle of the series.
"I'll look at my future beyond this tour at the end of it," Root said. "Don't think that's a distraction that should be around the group or I should be wasting energy on right now. I need to make sure I'm throwing everything I can into these next two games, I owe that to this team and the players,” Root said.