Joe Root and Chris Silverwood 'aligned' over plan to win back Ashes

Last updated on 14 November 2019.From the section Cricket152

Joe Root, Chris Silverwood and Ben Stokes — Joe Root averaged 32.5 with the bat against Australia in this year's Ashes

England's tour of New Zealand
Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, Radio 4 LW (Tests only), online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website

England Test captain Joe Root says he and new coach Chris Silverwood are "aligned" on a two-year plan to win back the Ashes in Australia.

Root says the team will change their approach, attempting to bat longer and be more patient with the ball.

He also told the BBC's Test Match Special that he hopes to return to batting at number four in England's top order as it "suits his game".

"It definitely fits in with captaincy a little bit better for me," Root said.

"I've found over time that, generally, I've consistently played better in that position."

Root moved up from his preferred position at four for the entirety of the drawn Ashes series in England this summer.

However, his average of 32.5 runs batting at three over the five-match series was 10 runs worse than when he bats a place lower down the order.

"I know previous captains have preferred to get out there early and just get among it but I quite like to split the two and to really focus on my batting."

'We want to be the number one team'

Silverwood was named successor to Trevor Bayliss as England's head coach in October after initially joining the set-up as bowling coach in January 2018.

And Root says he and the 44-year-old, who led Essex to their first County Championship in 25 years in 2017, have established a sense of "real clarity" over how they will move forward.

It is a departure from the approach taken by Australian Bayliss, who encouraged his team to score aggressively and take quick wickets.

"We know that over the next couple of years, we want to do everything we can to be in the best shape possible to go down to Australia and win," Root said.

"We want to be competitive in the Test Championship and as much as possible climb up the rankings to become the number one team in the world.

"We've got 25 games to build on that journey and make sure when we go down there we're in a really strong position to take on Australia in their conditions."

England face New Zealand in two Tests, the first of which begins on 21 November, but the series does not count towards the ICC World Test Championship.

The tourists continue their preparations in a three-day first-class match against a New Zealand A side, at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei, on Friday.

Bowling all-rounders Sam Curran and Chris Woakes are competing to start the first Test against the Black Caps in Mount Maunganui.

Opener Joe Denly is expected to drop down to three following an ankle injury that ruled him out of the T20 series, replacing Zak Crawley, who scored a century in his first innings in an England shirt earlier this week.

Root added: "We haven't officially picked a team yet. As you'd expect, the majority of that will go and play the first Test match."

.view-comments-button-wrapped-component {display: block !important;} .view-comments-button-wrapper {display: none !important;}

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

152 comments

1. Play county games in the middle of the summer.
2. Don't pick your mates.
3. Don't play as much limited overs cricket.
4. Patient runs from batsman.
5. at least three fast bowlers and two spinners that consistently bowl a length.

The we can "compete" in the Ashes down under.
A 2 year plan to win back the ashes starts by dropping a promising young player that has just scored a century and needs experience playing test matches in overseas conditions with a county plodder who is approaching his mid thirties and has never cut it at the top level! Here we go again do we ever learn a thing.
Surely the first step to accomplish that is to get rid of the hundred
Actually having players that have the mental toughness to bat out a long innings is key. But this also requires to have time playing the longer form of the game. And not just at the beginning and end of the english summer. They need to play plenty of 4/5 day cricket. We are world champions in ODI Cricket because it became the focus. The pinnacle is test cricket, it needs to be treated as such!
So Crawley gets a ton in a warm up and is rewarded by being dropped. Old boys club again.
We need proper test players for a start. Pick players on their test ability and not because they are 'mates'. I do think Joe needs to stand down as captain because it's not working for him. Let him just focus on his batting and as a team we would be so much better for it.
Crawley should play at 3. No point going backwards by selecting Denley. It's going against everything that has been said since the Ashes about moving forward. The exception in Anderson, he is still the best bowler we have so has to be picked when fully fit. Woakes to play until that happens. As entertaining as Leach has been over the summer, is he really our best spin option?
The buddy system & the failed white ball strategy will be maintained
We have no hope to be No1 with a team full of all rounders & standards must be set for selection so its transparent & not subject to the in crowd syndrome
We need red ball bats who have a 1st class ave of 40+ & bowlers who ave -27
What we don't need in flash in the pan white ball all rounders who may come good 1 in 10 tests
A new Captain would help.
Going to be incredibly tough but I do think we'll be far better prepared than the last 2 visits.

We finally seem to picking specialist batsman, Stokes will be available this time, and we're actually producing bowlers like Archer, Stone and Wood who have the pace to find joy in Aussie pitches.

I won't mind if we lose so long as we at least go down fighting this time.
Root & Silverwood maybe aligned, but the ECB clearly have different priorities.

With the middle of the English summer being given over to thrash-and-slash cricket for the foreseeable future, what chance do batsmen have of rediscovering how to play the ball late & bat time?
England Test captain Joe Root says he and new coach Chris Silverwood are "aligned" over a two-year plan to win back the Ashes in Australia.

Pity for you that the ECB aint aligned as their pathetic 100 marginalises the CC schedule even more
Would be nice to sign off 2019 with a couple of solid test match wins under our belt. Say what you like about the inconsistencies of this England side, but they've given me two of the most memorable days of sport I've ever witnessed this year, the World Cup final and the Headingley test match will live long in the memory. Looking forward to seeing what Silverwood can do with this team.
I have to say that I find it stunning to hear from a professional cricketer who is probably paid in excess of £1m a year to hear that their strategy for winning tests is
a) we need to bat longer
b) we need to be more patient in the field.

How long did it take them to come up with those pearls of wisdom or did the ECB have to buy in consultants to explain the blindingly obvious.
Though it sounds like common sense it's a seismic change, the patient 'see-the-shine-off-the-ball' opener has all but been banned from the England team, partly through the Lions squad selection which has been entirely focused on biff-bash stuff, which is why its great to see Sibley getting a chance alongside Burns.
To stand any chance of winning out in Australia in 2 years time, England have to get out there early and play several competitive 4 day state matches to properly acclimatise to the bounce, the ball and the conditions beforehand. If they stick to their 'we're too busy so we'll just play a practice game or two', it'll be another4-0 drubbing. The tour schedule will tell us if they've serious
'Aligned', hmm sounds like waffle - the key is finding and developing someone with a Cook/Gooch/Strauss mindset and PAYING them. At the moment all the money goes to the pyjamas boys so no incentive to learn Test technique.
Root & Silverwood may be aligned but are they aligned with Graves & Harrison? I hope not since those two clearly don't give a monkey's about red ball cricket.
The pinnacle of cricket (Test) will never flourish when you have the ECB prioritising the pinnacle of stupidity (The Hundred).
Delighted to see that Hameem Habeeb has been signed by Notts, where hopefully under the experienced guidance of Peter Moores he'll re-find the runs that made his look such a promising test player.