Joe Root has no regrets about the manner of England’s Ashes loss at Edgbaston, insisting he would like to “go back in time” and captain England in the same fearless fashion as Ben Stokes.
England’s unabashed commitment to the attacking principles of ‘Bazball’ saw them lose a thrilling first Ashes Test to Australia at Edgbaston, with the hosts driving the game forward to a tense conclusion that ended in defeat by two wickets.
The England dressing room has not blinked over the risks that they took along the way, with Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum insisting they are on the right track.
Now Root has joined the chorus, insisting the only thing he would change if he had his time again is not bringing a similarly aggressive style during his own reign.
Root led his country in a record 64 Tests over five and a half years, walking away last April after overseeing a draining run of one win in 17.
As the team’s most accomplished batter he has let loose since returning to the ranks, scoring five centuries and averaging 67.31, but wishes he had taken Stokes’ bold approach when he was at the helm.
Asked if England would like to go back to day one at Edgbaston and reverse their declaration after just 78 overs, the fastest in Ashes history, he said: “That’s not what we’re about as a team. If I could go back in time, I’d go back and start my captaincy tenure the way Ben has and try to play in a similar manner to how he does it.
“It’s far more exciting, far more interesting and I think we are getting more out of our team and our individuals. We’re playing better cricket to watch and producing better results overall.
“A lot of times that would peter out to a draw. The wicket we had was very slow, it could have made for a long, mundane game, but the way we went about it we gave ourselves a great opportunity to win the Test match.
“If are going to grow as a team we can’t just look at a couple of moments going against us and say ‘we need to do things differently’. If anything we need to double down on how we do it, completely back ourselves and make sure we get those one per centers right at Lord’s.
“We feel like we’ve ran the game for five days and we might be on the wrong end of it but there’s still so much more to come in that dressing room. It’s a great spot to be in.”
Apart from sheer weight of runs, one of Root’s most significant contributions to the new era of English cricket is his frequent use of an unconventional reverse ramp shot against pace bowlers.
Root uses the stroke to take advantage of gaps in the field, turning accurate deliveries into boundary options, but also to make a statement of intent against quicks who are unused to being treated with such apparent disdain.
Even so, his decision to deploy it off the first ball of a finely poised fourth day against Australia captain Pat Cummins was a remarkable one. Root made no contact on that occasion, but was undeterred enough to use it twice more in the next over – hitting Scott Boland for six and four.
“I don’t feel like Superman, I’m absolutely bricking it when the bowler’s running in to bowl most of the time,” he said of his mindset.
“Coming out first ball of the day, it was more about being 28 for two and it was a chance to lay a marker down. To say to everyone in the ground – the dressing room, the crowd – we are not here to be bowled at, we’re here to push the game on.
“I think that’s how we all look at the game now, from any position we feel like we can get somewhere to go on and win.”
Root also enjoyed an unexpectedly central role with the ball as the first Test reached its conclusion, sending down 15 overs in the fourth innings as Moeen Ali struggled with a burst blister on his right index finger.
McCullum has said Moeen will play in Wednesday’s second Test if fit, but if concerns linger over the injury, England could go two ways. They could send for a replacement, such as Surrey’s Will Jacks, but they could also continue to rely on Root’s part-time off-spin and use the chance to bring in Mark Wood’s 90mph pace.
“I think Mo will be absolutely fine, I’m sure he will be, but it’s always great when you get a chance to contribute to any Test match,” said Root.
“You want to get involved and step up in those big moments. I’m always ready for a chance to take Test wickets.”
IPL: Kohli shines as RCB maintain winning run against Kings
Virat Kohli's superb knock of 92 helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a fourth straight win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday as they kept their playoff hopes alive with a 60-run triumph over Punjab Kings.
Kohli smashed seven fours and six sixes in his 47 balls faced as the Challengers set the Kings a daunting target of 241, with Rajat Patidar also bringing up his half-century and Cameron Green (46 off 27) falling just short of doing so.
The Kings pulled off the biggest run chase in IPL history less than two weeks ago, but their hopes of another comeback were dealt a huge blow when Faf du Plessis took a wonderful over-the-shoulder catch to send Jonny Bairstow packing with Punjab at 71-1.
Kohli's contribution wasn't only limited to the bat, as he produced a stunning run out of Shashank Singh, haring onto the scene to send wickets flying with an underarm throw as Shashank failed to make it back by mere inches.
It was then up to Mohammed Siraj to polish off the Punjab tail, finishing with figures of 3-43 as the Kings fell to back-to-back defeats, keeping them ninth in the standings.
Data Debrief: Kohli leads the way
Having previously claimed the honour in 2016, Kohli leads the way in the race for the 2024 Orange Cap, another impressive innings taking him to 634 runs for the campaign.
Averaging 70.44 with a strike rate of 153.51, Kohli put further distance between himself and Chennai Super Kings' Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose 541 runs put him second in the standings.
Pooran's unbeaten 48 in vain as Head, Sharma lead Sunrisers to dazzling 10-wicket win over Super Giants
Sunrisers Hyderabad hammered Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets with more than 10 overs to spare in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head struck an unbeaten 167 from the opening partnership to move SRH third in the points table, with LSG unable to come up with any answers to defend their own haul of 165-4.
Head plundered 89 from 30 balls, including eight fours and eight sixes, while Sharma's 75 from 28 had eight fours and six maximums, in an explosive batting display that saw the duo hit 100 inside the powerplay.
Earlier, Lucknow struggled to get going in their innings, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-12) conceding only singles and shutting down LSG's top order, who scored just 66 in the first 11.2 overs.
Former West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran continued his fine build up to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup with an unbeaten 26-ball 48, as he crafted a 99-run fifth-wicket stand with Ayush Badoni, who was also unbeaten on 55.
Pooran struck six fours and a solitary six, while Badoni's 30-ball knock had nine fours, as the two gave Lucknow a chance, but in the end, it was nowhere near enough.
Data Debrief: Sunrisers pounce again in the powerplay
Sunrisers scored 107 runs in the powerplay. In all of T20 cricket, there have only been seven instances of a team scoring 100 runs or more in the powerplay – SRH have the two top scores, with both coming this year.
Pooran and Badoni's 99-run partnership was LSG's highest for the fifth wicket in IPL, surpassing the previous record of 87 between Deepak Hooda and Badoni. However, it proved fruitless.
CPL's Russell urges greater collab between franchise leagues to avoid frequent schedule overlap
Caribbean Premier League (CPL)'s CEO believes scheduling arrangements through collaboration by the various T20 leagues should be routine to avoid the frequent tournament clashes, which forces players to fly from one tournament to another in a short window.
Russell’s suggestion came during an interview with ESPNcricinfo, as he called for regular meetings among franchise leagues owners and administrators to solve cricket's global scheduling crisis. This, as CPL and the Hundred have overlapped in the past, but will avoid a clash this season, following dialogue with England Cricket Board (ECB) earlier this year.
“[The ECB] have a defined window that they have to play in, and it happened that we could move everything out to ensure that we didn't clash [with the Hundred]. It makes absolutely zero sense if you've got [Sunil] Narine and [Andre] Russell having to fly back the day before the final of the Hundred. That's in no one's interests, and certainly not the Hundred's,” Russell declared.
"I hope that [collaboration] continues. It's not rocket science; it's what should happen with all leagues. It's just nonsense that we've got all this overlap when it just needs to be worked through. Scheduling is a challenge, I know, but it can't be that you have two leagues going at each other at the same time. To my mind, it doesn't make any sense,” he added.
While there is a precedent for leagues negotiating to manage potential clashes as shown by the PSL and ILT20, there were a number of leagues that ran simultaneously earlier in the year. Australia's Big Bash and New Zealand's Super Smash finished in mid-January; South Africa's SA20 and the UAE's ILT20 started in January and ran into February; the Bangladesh Premier League started in January and finished in March; and the Pakistan Super League ran from mid-February to mid-March.
With the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for a return next year February, it is expected to further complicate the schedule where franchise leagues are concerned. It is for that reason why the general consensus among players worldwide is for global scheduling windows for franchise leagues and international cricket, to limit overlapping between the two.
While representatives of national governing bodies meet regularly at ICC level - most of whom control their own leagues - there is no specific forum for the owners and administrators of franchise leagues to discuss scheduling.
"It's the logical way to go - because we're all maturing, and we're all getting to a point where we are sustainable. They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played,” Russell said.
“I think it is a case of, 'OK, let's have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone. I think it's workable. Others might think it's not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there's no clash],” he opined.
Russell used the recent release of Major League Cricket (MLC)'s 2024 fixture list –two months before the tournament starts – as evidence of a shortage of "joined-up thinking" among administrators. MLC is scheduled to begin on July 5 and, as such, is on a six-day overlapping course with the Hundred.
"They've only just come out with their schedule. Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out,” he noted.
That said, Russell also encouraged administrators to find a solution to the perverse incentives that emerged for players earlier this year.
"It can't be right. I saw the other day that where leagues were overlapping, a player who got knocked out before the semi-finals or finals could actually make more money by going to another league. That shouldn't be a thing,” he stated.
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