England captain Joe Root doesn’t have any doubt he is still the man to lead the side at Old Trafford finish their hopes of regaining the Ashes despite defeat.
Despite the disappointment,” Root is eager to continue as skipper although australia’s 185-run triumph in Manchester left England to face up to the fact of surrendering the Ashes on home soil for the first time in 18 decades and affirmed that they will continue to keep the urn.
“Surely, yes,” he explained when asked whether he felt that he was the perfect guy for the task.
“Whenever you eliminate a series it hurts and I have to take that on the chin. It is still quite raw. You have to look at areas you want to get better at, both in yourself and as a team.
“But I’ve been given a fantastic chance to captain the Test side and certainly will continue to work really hard doing my best at the. That’s in my control and I need to make sure I keep getting this team in the ideal form to win as many games as possible.”
The hosts started the afternoon 18-2 having to bat out 98 overs to pull out an improbable draw in a sold-out Old Trafford and Joe Denly (53) and Jason Roy (31) fought for 80 seconds before the latter was bowled by Pat Cummins.
Although Ben Stokes (1) had been not able to replicate his Headingley heroics, Jos Buttler created a fighting 34 off 111 balls, Jack Leach laboured for 12 off 54 and final man out Craig Overton spent just under three hours in the crease because of his 21 off 105 balls.
“I thought we showed great character, battle and belief in what we wanted to achieve today,” Root said. “I could not be pleased with this effort that the men put in today.
“It turned out to be a resilient operation but sadly it wasn’t enough. Just like last week in Headingley we believed and we try our hardest till the end.
“You can always settle back and look at several areas of the sport where you might have done things differently but from the standpoint I am very proud.
“When you are in the place we had been in the onset of the day, the way the men fought as hard as they did, you understand much about your group, it reveals the character and everybody stood up and played with .”
Root believes there is a lot for England to play for with a draw at the show and Evaluation Championship points on the line despite Australia having already gained the Ashes.
The England captain included the dominance of this seam bowlers throughout the series was showing Test cricket at its peak.
“It is tough to consider losing the Ashes at the point but we need to be certain we pick ourselves up and down up in The Oval,” he explained.
“It had been just yet another great Test match and it is bitterly disappointing and we have to be sure we pick ourselves up and develop for what’s still quite a huge game for all of us in The Oval.
“We have seen some amazing Test cricket on the span of this show so much and I expect the exact same to be true in The Oval, it’s still a big game for us. We wish to be sure that we level the string and a Exam championship is to play as well.
“I feel every seamer has put all batters under pressure during the show, bar Steve Smith. It’s been hard work but that’s Test cricket at its best.
“You expect it to be both challenging and you expect guys to challenge your defence and make life hard for you. It has been one of those summers where batting was hard and you have been required to work for your runs.”
See day among the final and fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England from The Oval live on Sky Sports The Ashes September 12, from 10am on Thursday.
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