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As Joe Root puts the troubles of England’s buildup to the Ashes behind him and prepares for his first match as captain – at any level – overseas, he has called on his team to create a winning habit and be ruthless on their tour of Australia, starting with the two-day game against a Western Australia XI at the Waca.
Root is cutting a relaxed figure on tour, back sharing with his old house-mate Gary Ballance – “It’s nice to have someone cleaning the room,” he said, “that was my job when we lived together” – but is bullish about his aims as England prepare for the Gabba. He is looking for “continuity in the top order” and for those coming into the squad to “put your name forward for that first Test” but cannot guarantee every player will play one of the three warmups.
Injuries to Moeen Ali (left side) and Steven Finn (left knee) leave England with 14 fit players, and Root said they “won’t look to play more than 12” in this weekend’s match. The other two tour fixtures before the first Test will be first-class, so the first offers some scope for experimentation. Both injured players are expected to have scans on Friday.
“We want to be as ruthless as we can and start the tour as we mean to go on,” Root said. “We want to give guys the opportunity to play in the middle when those chances arise but at the same time not at the expense of losing and not being at our best. It is about making sure we apply ourselves and get what we want out of them by trying to win and getting into the habit of winning early in the tour.”
Leadership is an issue that also needs addressing. Over the coming days, Root and the management will discuss the appointment of Ben Stokes’s replacement as the vice-captain. “It will be sorted by the first Test. I don’t think it makes a massive difference to me on the field,” he said. “I have senior players around me who have been fantastic. It is a side that is always wanting to help each other out, which is a great environment to work in. Players are thinking about the game, looking to drive it forward themselves and take responsibility. It is a joy to captain.”
Of his overseas captaincy debut, Root said: “It’s important I use these three games to get a good feel for captaining overseas and how we are going to utilise the conditions. Making sure we have clear plans for their batters and we are as prepared as possible and give ourselves the best opportunity to break their side down. There are a lot of new things and these three games are an opportunity to get us off to a great start. We need to get guys into form and for me as captain to get a feel for how cricket is played in these conditions.”
England conducted a middle practice at Perth’s Richardson Park and while Finn injured his left knee batting in the nets (possibly by whacking his bat against his knee driving), Moeen sat out the session entirely with a suspected side strain, having felt pain in recent days. His absence is concerning on two counts: he has missed internationals with a side strain before (in 2015) and, in the absence of Stokes, he is a vital player.
Neither injury is thought to be tour-ending at this stage but were Moeen ruled out England would require some lateral thinking, with batting and spin-bowling required from his replacement. Liam Dawson might be the selectors’ first thought but Samit Patel should be in the frame too and Mason Crane is likely to play against Western Australia. Still, both Moeen and Finn have three weeks and two more tour matches before the first Test.
Even if Root is unsure, one new player with a keen sense of how cricket is played in these conditions is Mark Stoneman. He has played seven seasons of grade cricket in Sydney, facing Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and the like, as well as meeting his wife Serene along the way. To be here “is a dream come true”, after years of toils in the shires and the grades, he said. “The tour only comes round every four years, and to get the timing right and get my opportunity now is fantastic – and I want to make the most of it.”
Stoneman and Alastair Cook, who believes his partner is the most complete of the 12 he has had since Andrew Strauss retired, are the only specialist openers in the squad, and they have quickly built a rapport. “I only ever saw him on the telly, he just looked like a guy who was very calm and in control but he’s actually a really funny guy and keeps things level out there,” Cook said.
“You can have a bit of banter with him and he judges the mood well. It has only been a short while but he reads me quite well too from the other end as to whether he needs to give me a gee up or make me crack a smile.”
Stoneman has fond memories of January 2007, being “sat behind the bowler’s arm as Brett Lee was steaming in bowling to Andrew Flintoff”, and now it is his turn. “The Barmy Army were going mad in one corner, the ground was full and the atmosphere was unbelievable, so to have the potential to be playing in the same fixture is unreal.”
(THE GUARDIAN)
