London: Joe Root believes England have the capacity to do ‘something special’ by retaining the Ashes in Australia, after they wrapped up a 2-1 Test series victory against West Indies at Lord’s.
A nine-wicket win inside three days at the ‘home of cricket’ meant England had won both of Root’s first two series as captain following a preceding 3-1 home triumph over South Africa.
Saturday’s win was England’s last Test before they begin the defence of the Ashes in Brisbane in November. A series win in Australia would see star batsman Root join a select group of post-World War II England captains –Len Hutton, Ray Illingworth, Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting and Andrew Strauss to have led a side to Ashes glory Down Under.
“It has been great,” said Root. “We’ve played some really good stuff this summer.” England, though, suffered second-Test defeats in both the South Africa and West Indies series.
“There were two difficult weeks, but what is most pleasing is the resilience and character to come back from both of those with two extra strong performances,” said Root. “That is great to see for what is going to be a very challenging winter.”
“Plenty of challenges lie ahead, but with those challenges come great opportunities. We should not be afraid of going over to Australia, performing at our best and (trying to) do something special.
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