62 Daily Express Tuesday, July 30, 2019 CRICKET: ASHES COUNTDOWN
DX1STcould to take as much pressure off him as I
could.
He’s the one who takes on the biggest
responsibility, not only as captain but as the
best batsman in our team, so my job is to try
to help him when I can in the dressing room
and on the field so that he can make the best
decisions he can and drive the team forward.
We are great friends and with that
friendship comes real respect and honesty so
that we can get the best out of each other for
the good of the team. Joe knows he hasn’t
just got a ‘yes-man’ next to him who will go
along with everything and will just tell him
what he wants to hear.
And if the need came for me to do the job
as captain due to an unwanted injury, then
I’m confident I could step up. I’ve played a lot
of cricket now and know what we’re about
tactically – and Joe often comes to me and
Jos Buttler for thoughts before he makes his
call on things.
There were no hard feelings at all from Jos,
who had been Test vice-captain, and he sent
me a really nice message: “Congrats VC back
to your rightful place, delighted for you”.
That meant a lot coming from someone
who gives so much to the team.
The same could be said of guys such as
Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who have
experienced and achieved so much but are
still open to new ideas and who help push the
team onwards.
The stage I’m at, I feel like I can get the best
out of myself and others even if they have as
many caps as Broady and Jimmy do. It takesSHARING
THE LOAD:
Stokes will
be helping
Root in his
new role
as vice-
captainhave used at three since
the retirement of
Jonathan Trott, Root
comfortably has the
best record.
And, after watching
the top order get
dismantled by Ireland’s
Tim Murtagh at Lord’s,
Root is determined to
deny Australia the same
satisfaction.
Australia batsman
David Warner limped
out of action in the nets
yesterday when he
inside-edged a ball on
to his thigh but it is
thought to be nothing
more than a bruise and
is unlikely sideline him.Skipper puts team
first to bat at No3
FROM BACK PAGE
output is understandably
better at four and even
better again at five as
batting, in theory, gets
a little easier.
But Root has
consistently found
himself walking out
to the middle with his
side two wickets down
for very little after a
succession of options
have been tried in the
top three.
As the team’s best
batsman he is better
equipped than anyone
else to cope with the
moving ball and, of
the 10 players EnglandIT’S TOUGHER AT THE TOP
At 3
23 matches
1538 runs
40.47 average
2 centuries
At 4
35 matches
2736 runs
48.00 average
7 centuries
At 5
18 matches
786 runs
71.44 average
6 centuriesJoe Root’s performances in England Tests show a
marked improvement as he drops down the orderrise. “When Strauss
came in he said we
have to swing the
balance right towards
white-ball cricket and
that’s what we did,”
said Giles.
“All the attention
and the way we played
county cricket was
definitely
focused on the
shorter formats.
It was the focus
we needed.
It was the
strategy that
led to us
winning the
World Cup. It
was important
that the pendulum
didn’t swing back to
50-50, it had to swing
right back to white-ball
cricket.
“Has Test cricket
suffered a little bit?
Well, perhaps a little
bit. We need to do that
in red-ball cricket now.
“Whether it’s
the World Test
Championship or not,
Test cricket is really
important to us in this
country.”ENGLISH cricket will
swing the pendulum
back towards Test
cricket after reaching
their World Cup goal
by putting more
attention and cash into
the longest format.
It is hoped that the
introduction of the
World Test
Championship, which
begins with the
Ashes this
week, will put
greater focus
on the five-day
game globally.
Ashley Giles,
who took over
from Andrew
Strauss as
England’s
managing director of
men’s cricket, has
vowed to inject more
resources into Test
cricket that will result
in contracted players
earning more than
£1million once
appearance fees are
added.
Both white ball and
red-ball players will see
an increase in the value
of their contracts but it
is the Test players who
will see a greater payGILES: RefocusGiles on red alert
to lift Test appeal
By Dean WilsonMy job is to
support Joe,
but he knows
I’m not a
yes-man
BEN STOKES
T
HE World Cup is over and now
I’m just desperate to win those
Ashes back.
Of course, it was an incredible
four-year journey and we managed
to achieve what we set out to do.
But it has gone now and the focus is
on nothing but winning back those
Ashes.
It doesn’t matter what medals
you’ve got hanging up at home, the
battle starts again at Edgbaston – and
we’ve won nothing.
I simply cannot wait for this Ashes
series to start. This is the team I love
playing against and beating more than
any other and that is the only thing
occupying my mind right now.
It brings out the best in me and I feel
like I’m in the best possible shape to rise to
the challenge in terms of experience, fitness
and skill. This is the best version of me right
now and I’m thrilled to be vice-captain of the
side once more.
I got a call from Ashley Giles the day before
the squad was announced and he said they
wanted to reappoint me. There was absolutely
no hesitation from me to do the job again
because it is something I love doing and I was
so disappointed to lose it when it was taken
away from me.
It is a job I take seriously and, when
Joe Root and I were named captain and
vice-captain together over two years ago,
I wanted to make sure that I supported
him as much as possible and did what IIn the latest instalment of his Express column, the new vice-captain says that
while he is still pinching himself after a crazy World Cup final victory, he is now
focused on helping his skipper Joe Root make the best decisions on and off the
field to bring back the Ashes against a side who bring out the best in himРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS