Joe Root insists players fully committed to England management

Joe Root insists England’s players remain “absolutely committed” to the current regime after an overdue Ashes win in Melbourne eased some of the mounting pressure.

Head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key both faced questions over their future after England surrendered the urn with three consecutive defeats, but the prospect of a whitewash is now gone after a two-day victory at the MCG.

Having stemmed the bleeding with a first win in 19 Tests in Australia, they have one more chance to end a damaging tour on a positive note when they head to Sydney for the New Year Test.

But the England and Wales Cricket Board will still be asking what went wrong and what changes need to be made when the dust settles.

Root knows all about the pressure, leaving his role as captain a few months after the 4-0 defeat in the 2021-22 series, a trip which also ended the reigns of Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles behind the scenes. And he has launched a staunch support of McCullum and Key.

“In terms of the playing group, we’re absolutely committed to the management. They’ve been outstanding,” he said.

“So I think it would be silly (to overlook) the amount of hard work and things that have been done. You look at the group of players that we’ve got and you look at the guys that were involved in the team when I was captain four years ago – every single one of them has improved as a player. This team has improved as a team.”

There have already been admissions from those at the top that the pre-series preparation was not up to scratch, and a pledge from Key to look into the team drinking habits after reports that their break in Noosa resembled a ‘stag do’.

A sharper focus on skills coaching may also be incoming after an initial attempt to downsize the backroom team, but Root feels the good work must not be lightly swept away.

“Clearly there’s always going to be things to do and things to work on and, yes, we can be better,” he said.

“There’s certain areas that we’ll continue to keep working at but the management work extremely hard. They might do things in a slightly different way and it might appear different to what we’re used to as an English team, but I think we’ve made great strides as a group and a big reason for it is because of the guys that we have behind us.

“It’s been a very different approach and different way of doing things, but there’s been a considerable move forward in terms of how we’ve played throughout that period.”

While the main aim was bringing the Ashes back home, Root has finally ticked off two notable omissions from his CV. After hitting his first Test century on Australian soil in Brisbane he has now experienced a Test victory at the 18th time of asking.

“I didn’t want to come here and lose another Ashes series. It’s disappointing that we’ve lost the series, but it’s really important that we managed to get the right side of the result here,” he explained.

“It would be better if we win next week as well. Every Test match, every time you get the opportunity to represent your country, is a huge privilege, huge honour. If we can build on it and do it again next time it’s momentum in the right direction for the next tour here.”