Many expect a whitewash but this series may end up being closer than widely thought if England rally as Joe Root intends
“I’m not just trying to make things up. I genuinely believe that if we’d taken our chances better, and handled that first innings better, we could be sat here in a very different position.” It would be easy to disparage Joe Root’s post-defeat comments as obvious and not useful, but the England captain’s press conference was one of his stronger displays.
Root’s media appearances can often be limp, conciliatory towards nothing in particular, couching each defeat in terms of lessons that England need to learn while leading a team that never learns them. In the Carl Rackemann Indoor Centre beneath the Gabba, next to the nets and the workout equipment, Root was exercised, punchy, obviously deeply frustrated with that opening Ashes loss.
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