'I think we have different tools' – Root confident of England's bouncebackability

England batter Joe Root is confident of the current team's bouncebackability in the Ashes series, despite a humbling start at Perth where they lost the first Test in two days. England have brought their adventurous intent under the Stokes-McCullum banner for the first time to Australian shores. The change in ideologies of how England should play the format came into being after the 2021-22 series, where they were thoroughly routed by Australia with a 4-0 scoreline. Root reckoned England are a better settled unit this time.

"I think we have different tools we probably didn't have last time around," Root said. "Probably a lot more settled team than previous tours as well. We've got different attributes which I think suit these conditions really well. There's a good inner belief in what we are trying to do and how we want to play our cricket."

This comes after Stokes too sprung to the defence of his team, which has come under a lot of flak since the defeat in the series opener.

Root himself has arrived with a lot of baggage. Australia has not been as good a hunting ground for the batter. He has played a total of 29 Test innings in Australia without scoring a century. He currently averages 33.33 there – the lowest for him among all the countries where he has batted in at least 10 innings.

"I come back here this time a completely different player. I'm no longer captain, a lot more experienced. I've had a good couple of years heading into this and I've got a clear understanding of how I want to score my runs. I know that if I get time out there and make good decisions for long periods of time I'm going to be successful. I know I'm a good player."

Root might not have big scores in Australia, but has been unarguably the best batter in the format for the last couple of years heading into this big Ashes tour. After amassing 1556 runs at an average of 63.38 in 2024, he has usurped Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to second spot in the list of highest run-getters in Tests with 13551 runs. Given the form he has been in, Root is now expected to tick off two big boxes in the remainder of his career – a Test hundred in Australia, and surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 15921 runs.

"You can't control what other people are saying and talking about and that's their job to make those opinions. But I come back here a completely different player, a lot more experienced. I had a good couple of years heading into this and got a really clear understanding of how I want to score my runs. I now know if I get time out there and make good decisions I'm going to be successful and I'm going to build those innings that are going to set up games for us to win," Root offered.

Four days out from the second Ashes Test – a pink-ball game at the Gabba, Root also felt that this series didn't need a Day-Night fixture.

"I personally don't think so [if Ashes needs a pink-ball game]. But it does add to things. Obviously Australia's got a very good record here as well, so you can see why we're playing one of those games. You know two years out it's going to be there so it's all part and parcel of making sure you're ready for a series like this. Does it need it? I don't think so. Different phases of the day feel quite placid. You feel quite out of the game with the ball then very quickly things can turn around. There will be different elements to contend with but that is part of the fun."