Joe Root dismisses talk of ‘regret’ over England dismissals

Joe Root insisted his England team-mates had no room for regrets after his Sydney century kept the tourists alive in the final Ashes Test.

Root was at his virtuoso best as he rapped out 160 on day two at a sold-out SCG, his second ton on Australian soil in the last month following a 12-year wait.

It was a classical knock that saw him control conditions, subdue the home attack and lift his side to 384 all out – their highest total Down Under since 2017.

Australia made heavy inroads as they responded with 166 for two in the evening session, punishing their rivals for failing to make an even bigger score.

Harry Brook had 84 when he edged a lazy stroke in the third over of the day and Jamie Smith had fans shaking their heads in disbelief when he slapped a half-tracker from part-timer Marnus Labuschagne straight to cover.

Root outlasted both in a six-and-a-half-hour siege but backed his partners’ attacking instincts.

“No-one is more frustrated than the guy who loses his wicket. But I don’t think regret is the right word,” he said.

“It’s very easy to overanalyse and look too much at certain dismissals. There is method behind what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to move the game forward all the time and when it doesn’t come off, it can look a certain way. But as a batter your job is not to survive, it’s to score runs. You can’t win games just surviving.

“Sometimes you just make a mistake and you have to learn from it. That’s the art of the game: it’s not being too hard on yourself, not being too soft on yourself, it’s being real and understanding what you need to do to get the best out of yourself.

“They are clearly very good players and I back them 100 per cent.”

Root savoured his own experience, equalling Australian great Ricky Ponting’s record of 41 Test hundreds at one of the country’s most storied venues.

Only hall of famers Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis sit above him in the list of century-makers. But he is more concerned with helping England end a disappointing tour with back-to-back wins, building a brighter legacy for the likes of Brook and Smith to carry forward.

“I don’t know how many opportunities I’m going to get to come back to Australia, obviously, but I’d love to,” he said.

“For a lot of this squad this is the first time they’ve been out here. If we can find a way to to win this fixture, next time we come out here the last two memories would be two Ashes wins.

“I guess the baggage that might have been there for a previous generation might not be there for them.”

England captain Ben Stokes was the pick of the bowlers after a wayward start from Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse, trapping Jake Weatherald lbw and winning a heated battle with Labuschagne when he edged to gully.

The pair shared some frosty words in the middle, with Stokes at one stage putting his arm around Labuschagne’s shoulders as the exchange continued.

Physical contact is typically frowned upon and could warrant a word from the match referee but Australia seamer Michael Neser was hardly surprised to see his Queensland team-mate in the thick of things.

“He has a knack. He’s a such a strong competitor he can get under your skin. That’s just Marnus,” he said.

“I don’t know what was said or done, not a clue, but it depends on the context.”