‘I never retired’ – Root eyes more ODI success with England

Amid troubled times we look to familiar comforts – that old blanket, your favourite food, Joe Root.

England, who have lost four series of 50-over matches in a row, face Australia on Saturday in a shaky position. They can at least learn something from the fact that they are the home of their most successful batter.

“I never retired”, says Root, who returned for his first one-day internationals since the 2023 World Cup in India earlier this month.

When asked if there was a crucial conversation with England’s team hotel in Lahore with coach Brendon McCullum or captain Jos Buttler to seal his return, Root laughs.

“I don’t think there needs to be either really”, Root says. “I don’t think any player has a divine right for selection”.

One silverware from England’s trophy collection is missing, the Champions Trophy. It also marks the start of the journey to the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Root has previously stated that he wants to participate in the tournament, which is scheduled to end in a month. There, should they qualify, England will attempt to win back the trophy they won in 2019 but gave up disappointingly in 2023.

“Obviously you’ve got perform, you’ve got to consistently go and do your job and offer something to the team and make sure you’re making it a better team, not holding it back”, Root says.

Root’s modesty is summed up by even considering that he could ever hold England host.

Whether as young prankster, captain or back-in-the-ranks experienced pro, no batter has put more runs into England’s pot across all formats than the Yorkshireman.

Even Root has struggled to get past the issues that have plagued England’s one-day international bat since winning in 2019’s opener.

Starved of opportunity, he averages 29.92 across the five and a half years and has not made a century.

At the World Cup in India he made three fifties but, like his team-mates, could not prevent England’s spiral.

“Anyone that says at any stage of their career ‘ I have got no regrets’, ‘ I wouldn’t change anything’, I think they are lying”, says Root, who also made double figures in all three innings in India this month but returned a highest score of 69.

“You would change certain things, but in terms of how I approach this tournament, no, not really. You know what’s happened has happened”.

After England’s first training session since arriving in Lahore, Root spoke shortly afterward.

Before he and fellow batter Harry Brook threw balls to each other on an astroturf strip away from the rest of England’s group, he had two turns in the nets.

Root strongly disagrees with Kevin Pietersen’s assertion that England did not practice enough in India, despite his former international team-mate’s claims.

“They don’t come to training”, Root says. “They don’t see what we do and how we operate”.

Root would not contest the fact that England’s 50-over batting struggled to find rhythm.

ODIs fall somewhere between the two goals, if Tests are about getting as many runs as possible and T20s are about getting as many runs as quickly as possible.

In an effort to regain his top form, supporters urge Root to “just play like Joe Root.” He would contend that it is not as straightforward.

He claims that there have never been any two innings in which the two of his innings have been exactly the same.

“I believe that managing the situation in front of you, managing the situation that you’re presented with, and consistently making good decisions under pressure is the art of batting,” says one player.

Root’s last ODI century came during a group-stage win over West Indies in the 2019 World Cup.

With 16.5 overs to spare, England still won by eight wickets after Eoin Morgan batted in the back, Jason Roy threw a hamstring, and Chris Woakes took the batty at number three.

Things have changed since.

The new era is being led by McCullum and Buttler, who are attempting to emulate England’s best cricketing side. It was never going to be simple.

That constant comparison would be difficult for some.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a negative”, Root, one of five surviving World Cup winners in this squad, says.

“That team will have had a significant impact on this team,” said the captain. A number of the men in this squad and those in and around it would have been graduates of their GCSEs or beginning their professional cricket careers.

Root’s 89 international matches were played between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, but only 31 of those have since, and the downward revision of England’s domestic competition is still putting pressure on their return to the top.

Although there haven’t been as many changes as he had hoped, Root still believes England can come back in 2023 when he advocated for players to have more regular opportunities.

“It’s just going to take something different”, he says.

“There isn’t that opportunity to do that]play as regularly] nowadays but it doesn’t mean we can’t be as successful as that team.

” There’s just different challenges that we’re going to have to overcome.

Can we find a way to make that process easier by talking to each other well and sharing our experience so that the team can win the game when the game is at its crunch?