Tuesday 23 January 2018 08:53, UK
Joe Root has withdrawn from England’s Twenty20 series against Australia and New Zealand in order to rest.
Root, who captained his side to a 4-0 Ashes defeat before helping England to a hat-trick of one-day wins, had intended to play in all formats this winter but will now head home for a fortnight.
The 27-year-old will miss the triangular T20 series that begins on February 7 but will return for the one-day series in New Zealand.
"It was a discussion that has taken a long time," Root said.
"I had every intention of playing that series but Trevor is mindful of it being a very long summer. There is a lot of cricket to be played.
"Eventually we came to the decision that it would be good to have a break in between the one-dayers in New Zealand and now.
"Sometimes you have to look over a long period of time, making sure that we get to the middle of the summer and the back end of next winter and still feel fresh and raring to go and not burnt out."
Root is also entered in the Indian Premier League auction at the end of the month and looks set to feature in the majority of the tournament that runs from April 4 to May 27.
