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England Test captain Joe Root declined to confirm his participation in this winter’s Ashes tour as players continue to wait for full details of the trip, and in particular the Covid protocols that will be imposed on them in Australia.
“I think I speak for everyone that Ashes cricket, an away tour of Australia, is just one of those things you’re desperate to be on,” Root said. “The position I’m at in my career could be the last chance I have to go. So of course that’s something you’re desperate to do, desperate to make history there, hopefully, and be a part of something very special.
“But it’s hard to make a final decision until we know what it looks like. Once this information is known and we have a little more clarity, we hope to be able to do something special this year. “
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The problems that tour organizers continue to face were illustrated on Tuesday, when an Australian government minister confirmed plans to hold the fifth test in Perth just five days after the previous match ended in Sydney s ‘would collapse if players and their entourage, like other visitors to New South Wales, were to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival in Western Australia.
“There are serious questions about whether there will be a test match in Perth this summer,” Australian Sports Minister Richard Colbeck said. “If there is no chance of coming here without an extended quarantine, that just won’t happen.” Cricket Australia continues to say that all tests will be played as planned.
Also on Tuesday, the Sheffield Shield game between Queensland and Tasmania was postponed and the visiting team immediately flew home, after four new cases were confirmed in Queensland, a state of more than five million inhabitants.
With England players due to arrive in Australia in November, in time to quarantine themselves at a Gold Coast complex in Queensland and prepare for the first test at Brisbane’s Gabba from December 8, all those involved are more in addition in a hurry to confirm the arrangements. But while other players had already raised concerns about the tour and the possibility of their choice not to go, this is the first time the England captain has echoed them.
“I think it’s so hard to make a final decision until you know it,” Root said. “That’s why it’s so important that we get all the information. I am desperate to be part of an Ashes series, I still am, it is this series as an English player that you [most] want to be involved and that will never change. I think it’s really important that everyone make a decision that they feel comfortable with. We just have to be patient, we just have to wait and find out what’s going on and then make a decision accordingly. “
Despite the lingering possibility that the tour, which, as expected, would involve five tests in six weeks in five different states, would collapse completely, Root tried to keep preparations as close to normal as possible. “You look at the last two years, nothing has really been normal,” he said. “You just want to get the most out of everything you can. From our perspective, all we’ve done has been to make sure we’re as ready as possible, that we’re organized, and clear about what we need to do. As much as anything, we’ve tried to keep it as close to how you would want to prepare for any tour, but especially an Ashes tour of Australia.
Root was speaking after being named Male Player of the Year at the 52nd Cinch PCA Awards, England’s biggest awards ceremony. The 30-year-old scored 1,455 tries in 2021 with an average of 66.13 and returned to the top of the world rankings.
“I definitely feel like I’m playing one of the best crickets I’ve played,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing well. I feel I have good rhythm in the way I move and good confidence in the crease. More than anything, you are desperate to keep going, to keep that hunger going, to keep that motivation to make those big scores and contributions. “
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