Root backs England for formidable summer despite wretched winter

Joe Root believes England can become a formidable team in world cricket – starting with next week’s first Test against Pakistan.

The captain will bat at No.3 instead of his accustomed four in the line-up, a change he knows will affect both he and the team.

But rather than be perturbed by the task at hand of masterminding a struggling batting unit, Root is instead relishing the challenge at hand when he walks out to bat at Lord’s.

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He said: “For me it’s just getting used to the role of captain, and making sure that I could separate the two, make sure my full focus was on my batting.

“I feel like I’m able to do that now, and it’s about going out and scoring runs and setting the tone as much as possible from that position.

“I’m really excited for the challenge that will bring but ultimately that’s the change in how I go about my batting, I still want to look to be consistent and have that hunger and desire to make really good cricket.”

That hunger and desire is far from a surprise for the ever-driven Root, even in spite of a wretched winter abroad in Australia and New Zealand.

England succumbed to a humbling 4-0 Ashes loss, with things hardly getting any better with a 1-0 loss in New Zealand – another blot in the copybook that is Test form away from home.

But with two Tests to come against Pakistan and an exciting series with India to come later in the summer, Root sees the summer as an opportunity to make things right.

They’ll do so with a restructured batting line-up too, courtesy of new national selector Ed Smith, with wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow moving up to five while Jos Buttler also earned a recall, in as a specialist batsman at seven.

“We’ve obviously tried to strengthen that top six, get our run getters in there as much as possible, and as early as possible,” he added.

“It’s produced good opportunities for the guys now to hopefully be a bit more consistent, that’s something that we’ve sort of lacked in recent times and if we get back to that we’ll be a very difficult side to play against.

“Jos’ inclusion gives us a real opportunity to put the pressure on both sides, especially if we’re in a position of strength.

“Our leading run scores over the last couple of years batting in the top six, if that continues to be the case and for Jos to come in afterwards it can make for some really entertaining cricket.

“It’s going to be fun to watch and I’m sure the guys will enjoy playing as well.”

Succeeding Alastair Cook as skipper, Root’s year-long stint as captain has boasted a perhaps alarming amount of lows as highs, notably the troubles away from home.

Yet the highlights have come the 26-year-old’s way too, a 190 against South Africa on debut a particular point of pleasure, with each subsequent moment giving him plenty to learn from.

He said: “In those tough times, you see a lot of the characters of the guys emerging.

“It wasn’t for a lack of trying or lack of character or doing things the wrong way, and that was really pleasing for me.

“I do think we’re not far away from being a formidable team in world cricket, we just need to be slightly better and slightly smarter around the games.”

Joe Root joined fellow Test players Mark Wood and Jonny Bairstow to help launch England’s official new ODI and T20 kits, thanks to New Balance.