Former England captain Joe Root has bizarrely suggested England should not have gone on their 2021-2022 Ashes Tour to Australia, and did so just to “keep the lights on”.
Much of the build up to the series, in which Root’s England team were rolled 4-0, was dominated by the COVID-19 restrictions put in place on the tourists.
England had to carry out 14 days in quarantine after arriving in Australia, and were from then on required to remain in a bubble.
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Skipper Pat Cummins and then-England coach Chris Silverwood were both forced to miss matches through isolation, while the fifth Test was moved from Perth to Hobart due to the WA government’s strict border restrictions.
Then-England captain Joe Root reacts after day three of the third Ashes Test in 2021. Getty
Speaking to media on Sunday morning (AEST), Root suggested he regretted that England even went on the Tour.
“Thinking of COVID, it was about keeping the lights on last time we went,” Root said.
“Arguably we shouldn’t have gone last time, should we, in retrospect?
“We did what we thought was the right thing at the time.
“We’ll be in a completely different place going into next time.”
Root has never won a Test match in Australia, nor has he scored a Test hundred.
He’s not the first England player who was on that tour to pour water on that series. Last April Stuart Broad said the COVID restrictions lead to “a void series”.
“Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series,” Broad told the Daily Mail.
“But in my mind I don’t class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game.
“Nothing about that series was high level performance because of the COVID restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise.
“I’ve written it off as a void series.”
Australia still hold the Ashes after the 2023 series in England was drawn 2-2.