Joe Root concentrating on being ‘mentally focused’ for Ashes series in Australia

Joe Root revealed he will concentrate more on his mental approach in the build-up to the Ashes rather than looking at tweaking his technique for Australian conditions.

One subplot ahead of England’s bid to regain the urn is Root having never scored a hundred in 14 Tests in Australia, where he averages a respectable 35.68, with nine fifties and a top score of 89.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting this week backed Root to end his hoodoo in the five-match series starting in Perth on November 21 but added it will be “a mental thing for him more than anything else”.

Root seemingly agreed with Ponting as he admitted trying to get his mindset in the best place possible has been uppermost in his preparations for a while, rather than worrying about technical adjustments.

“How I prepare now is different to how I would have done 10 years ago,” Root said. “I’ve played against a lot of their guys, I know how they operate, I know what they’re likely to try to bring to the series.

“I used to be very technical in how I prepared. I’d want to make sure that everything felt lined up and my feet were in the right place, my head position was correct. But I’m a lot more mentally focused.

“Now I’m a bit more concerned about how I’m looking at the game; how I’m going to approach different situations, whether that be the surface, whether that be different bowler types, different angles, being able to manage those different angles when they come wide of the crease, things like that.

“So it’s just having a look at the likely make-up of their squad, the different threats that they may pose and then being clear on how I want to counter that.”

Root captained England on their last Test trip to Australia in 2021-22, which ended in a 4-0 drubbing for his side, while he stepped down from his position a few months later after losing in the Caribbean.

Since then, Root has amassed 14 centuries in 41 Tests, averaging 58 in the Brendon McCullum era, and he is full of optimism about England’s chances despite their record of 13 losses in the last 15 matches.

“I look at it at this time and I’m in a completely different stage of my career,” Root said. “I’m no longer captain, I’m playing some really good cricket, and so are we are playing a really exciting way.

“We’ve got a great group of players, we can go there and hit them with different tools to those we’ve had on previous tours, so when you look at it like that it’s a really exciting prospect.”

Root, though, was adamant his immediate priority is three ODIs against New Zealand, the first of which is on Sunday at Mount Maunganui, with England looking to boost a lowly world ranking.

They lie eighth in the International Cricket Council standings but only the top-eight automatically qualify for the 2027 World Cup, alongside co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A series win over the Black Caps, ranked third in the world, would go a long way to easing concerns and England have an almost full-strength squad, although Jofra Archer is unavailable this weekend.

“I don’t think it’s arrogant to say you look at the quality that’s within our squad, we’re not an eighth in the world team,” Root added. “We should be competing and jostling for that top spot.

“That’s the opportunity that lies ahead of us in this series and building towards the next World Cup, is can we work our way up towards that top end?”

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