Root still hopeful of winning Ashes

PERTH: Joe Root, the embattled England captain, says he is “fed up” over his team’s troublesome off-field behaviour as the tourists continue to be plagued by scandals ahead of a crucial third Test in Perth starting on Thursday.

England’s nightmare Ashes tour continued with fringe batsman Ben Dunkett handed a suspension by the ECB after pouring beer over vice-captain James Anderson in a bar in Perth last week. It came hot on the heels of wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow’s infamous headbutt of Australian opener Cameron Bancroft at a Perth bar earlier in the tour.

England came into the tour under scrutiny following star allrounder Ben Stokes’s involvement in a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub in September. The tourists have been under siege ahead of the third Test at the WACA- a match they need to avoid defeat to keep alive the series.

In his first Ashes series in charge, Root said he was disappointed with the misconduct of his players. “I’m fed up of talking about stuff that’s not cricket,” he told reporters in Perth. “The lads have to wake up and smarten up. Guys have made silly mistakes that of course are going to get blown out of proportion. It’s been frustrating...very frustrating.” Still in his infancy as captain, Root believed he could learn from the troublesome campaign.

“I feel like I’ve learned a large amount,” he said. “I knew it would be challenging, and I knew there would be stuff around the cricket — but not to this extent.” Root believed Anderson was also perhaps culpable during the Dunkett incident. “Yes, maybe a little bit,” he said. “His focus now has to be about leading that bowling attack and doing right things on the field.”

Root said England could quieten the criticism with a strong performance in Perth. “We have to make sure we perform well this week and win. We have to get people talking about the cricket. And if we win this week and go to Melbourne with the score 2-1, then whole dynamic of the series changes and we’ve proved to ourselves that we’re right in this contest.