"Whatever you want to call it, it's been great fun to play, and I think it must be quite difficult to play against - knowing what score to set. It felt like we can score six, seven runs an over on occasions, and when that's the case you feel like anything is possible" - Joe Root
Tuesday 27 December 2022 18:37, UK
Joe Root speaks to Sky Sports about a dramatic year in his Test career as he explains he has no regrets over resigning as captain, talks rediscovering the joy of cricket, a key part of 'Bazball' overlooked, and the confidence of regaining the famous urn in the Ashes next summer.
Root stepped down after five years as captain in April after succeeding Sir Alastair Cook. He ended with the most matches (67) and wins (27) as England men's Test captain. But he left after England won just one of their previous 17 Test matches including a 4-0 series defeat in Australia.
He spoke about the "massive impact" of those struggles and the effect it had on his family.
Root said: "We weren't performing. We weren't delivering what I thought we were capable of doing. And on a personal point of view, it had a massive impact on me away from cricket as well.
"I couldn't leave it in the car or at the ground. I wasn't really present at home and it wasn't fair on my family, the people I was closest to, and it wasn't fair on myself either.
"If you can't even be yourself, then you aren't able to give what that role requires, lead in the right way or lead a group of players."
Root does not regret his decision and says he "gave everything" as captain of the national team.
"For a number of reasons, it was the right thing to do - to step back. It needs someone to throw absolutely everything at it.
"As soon as I made that decision, it was quite clear that it was the right one, and I've not looked back. I gave everything to that role and threw everything at it. I am really proud of the way I went about that."
Root mentions how "refreshing" it is to play under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, who have developed a unique attacking approach to Test cricket. The pair won six of their seven home Test matches and followed up the successful summer by completing an historic series whitewash in Pakistan this week.
When asked about 'Bazball', Root laughed. The name has been widely used in England by the fans - and is inspired by McCullum's attacking win-at-all-costs philosophy, with part of the name (Baz) derived from McCullum's nickname as a player.
Root said: "It's an interesting one! Whatever you want to call it, it's been great fun to play, and I think it must be quite difficult to play against - knowing what score to set.
"It felt like we can score six, seven runs an over on occasions, and when that's the case you feel like anything is possible. You can chase anything down and even in a game that looks like it could end up being a draw, when you can score 200 plus in a session, it doesn't feel like that's really a result option anymore.
"I think Brendon's got a very aggressive approach to how to play the game, I think Ben is even more aggressive! It is exciting.
"I think one thing that gets overlooked is that there have been moments where we've recognised important play and had to absorb some pressure, and even though they might just be for four, five, six overs, they are a really important five, six overs where previously you might lose two wickets and the game is thrown massively in favour of the opposition.
"Everyone will see the amount of boundaries that we've been scoring, or how quickly we have gone on and taken the positive option more frequently, but I think just as importantly there has been a case of how we have recognised those moments, we've absorbed it and have counted when we needed to."
Root also explained the difference in the team's approach to cricket and how remembering their love and enjoyment of the game has improved performances.
"Whenever you are 10, 12, or even younger, you're playing in the back garden - that's the feeling that you get - that raw enjoyment of smacking the ball, bowling fast, or spinning it miles. That's something you should never really lose as a player," the former England captain said.
"It's easy to forget, in the hype of the pressurised environments and demands of constantly putting in performances and winning. But it is so important that you enjoy what you do, and you're more likely to get the best out of yourselves and it's something that we've paid quite a lot of attention to this summer."
Root's career as Test captain got off to a great start in 2017 as he scored 190 on his captaincy debut in the first Test against South Africa at Lord's. Later in 2018 came one of the big highlights as leader when they won a home series 4-1 against India. Another highlight was a 3-1 win in South Africa in 2020.
But two 4-0 Ashes series defeats in Australia were among the lows under Root's leadership. As captain he did not win the Ashes as the home series in 2019 was drawn.
One of his best achievements came in 2021 when he scored 1708 runs in 15 matches which included six centuries in the calendar year, as he was named the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year.
Reflecting on that period, he said: "I think that last summer was probably one of the most enjoyable periods of my career from a playing point of view, to play in that team, probably because of the way the last couple of years have gone, the contrast of it - and just to be able to now go and relax and offer some leadership skills in a slightly different way."
The first Ashes Test next summer starts on June 16 in Edgbaston, with England hoping to regain the urn for the first time since 2015. And the former skipper understands just how "special" an Ashes summer is to English fans.
"Everything ramps up," he said. "The interest around Test cricket in this country goes up a notch. To be starting at Edgbaston as well - there's an unbelievable atmosphere created in that ground so it's going to be a very special summer of cricket, and Test cricket in particular, with it being an Ashes summer."
The series will then move onto Lord's (June 28-July 2) and Headingley (July 6-10), the scene of Stokes' 2019 heroics, before finishing at Emirates Old Trafford (July 19-23) and The Kia Oval (July 27-31).
Looking ahead to next summer, Root said: "It's a great opportunity for us and how we played our cricket under Ben last summer, it's a very exciting place to be with a big series like that coming around.
"In our own conditions to be able to deliver like that puts us in a really good space, so hopefully we can follow through and keep learning, developing, and becoming more and more confident in those sorts of situations and playing in that manner."
"We've proven to ourselves we can do it against two of the best teams in the world in our own conditions so it will be great to take Australia on and take that one step further again."
