'Energised' Joe Root still looking for ways to evolve

Joe Root's relief was right there on his face when he declared Ashes selection as "not my concern anymore".

Root, the England captain from 2017 to 2022 whose fine run of form was a key feature of the recent drawn home Test series with India, which captivated even the most casual of followers, scarcely drew a breath before launching into the Hundred with Trent Rockets.

But it all forms part of his evolution, which has him enjoying one of his best seasons to date and playing with greater freedom, ahead of his first Ashes series in Australia unburdened by the captaincy since 2013.

Root's two subsequent Test tours of Australia featured plenty of off-field drama that he had to deal with as skipper including, in his words, the post-Covid restrictions surrounding the 2021-22 series, for which Ben Stokes was added to the squad after an injury lay-off just 10 days before they departed. Before that, Stokes missed the 2017-18 Ashes in the aftermath of the Bristol nightclub affair and Jonny Bairstow was embroiled in a bizarre "headbutt incident" (inverted commas gestured by Root) with Australia's Cameron Bancroft which turned out to be a proverbial storm.

"There was a lot of distractions," Root said. "This time I just want to go and enjoy the tour for what it is. It's a beautiful country, it's a great place to go play cricket.

"Clearly it's going to be hostile, it's going to be everything you'd expect and want from an away Ashes series. That's something you've got to relish and want and I want to go out there and just enjoy being a part of it."

There was a reminder of those hostilities earlier this month when David Warner, now retired from Australia duty, reminded Root that he was yet to score a century in Australia, adding: "He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg."

That was ahead of Warner's debut in the Hundred, the competition which will again bring him face to face with Root in London Spirit's clash with Trent Rockets on Thursday.

Root shrugged off Warner's comments as "all part of the fun".

"You know that there's going to be storylines and there's going to be people wanting to hype up a big series and it doesn't really change anything when you get out there," Root said. "You've got to try and impact the game and help your team get off to a good start. That's business as usual as far as I'm concerned.

"I can't have any control or say how people see the game or talk in an interview, so it's sort of irrelevant. What more can I do about it? Just make sure it's not a talking point in six months' time or a hundred days' time."

But he did address that elusive century on Australian soil.

"The thing that stands out for me is I probably wanted it way too much the last couple of times," Root said. "It took me away from what was important.

"Having played there a couple of times before, now going there with 150-odd Test matches under my belt, I feel like you couldn't be more ready for it so just go and enjoy what a great tour it should be."

Root was the second-highest run-scorer in the India series with 537 at 67.12. His innings-to-century ratio in Tests for 2025 is the best it's been in a calendar year at 3.33 and his conversion rate is also superior after turning three of his four 50-plus scores into centuries. The other was an unbeaten 53 in a successful run chase as England went 1-0 up in the India series.

In terms of batting average, Root's 63.44 for 2025 so far is his third-best after 2014 (97.12) and 2023 (65.58) in years where he has scored 100 runs or more.

During India's visit, Root also moved to No. 2 on the all-time leading run-scorer's chart, after Sachin Tendulkar, and posted his 39th century in the format, putting him fourth behind Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting.

But, after 158 Tests, Root said it wasn't so much the milestones that kept him going.

"As a player, more of the motivation is can you keep evolving," he said. "Can you keep finding ways of staying ahead of your opposition? Can you make sure that you don't stand still and become stale? Can I keep being creative? Can I keep finding ways of improving and making sure that the stuff that I'm doing well stays at that level as a bare minimum?

"Naturally with age, with experience, I've got a better understanding of my own game and how I want to construct innings in different situations on different surfaces against different bowler types and been able to roll it out pretty well over the last little while.

"The continuing challenge will be, can I stay consistent with that? Can I keep finding answers to questions posed at me wherever we are in the world and whatever conditions and whatever situation. That's the fun of it, right?"

Root also credited Brendon McCullum, whose arrival as England head coach came shortly after Root relinquished the captaincy in April 2022, with rejuvenating his batting career.

"Having worked with Baz has changed the way that I look at the game," Root said. "I've got less technical, I've become more about trying to manage the game better and find ways of problem solving. It's been very refreshing to have someone with a very different way of looking at things come and add a huge amount to my game. He's been brilliant."

Without the burden of captaincy - for his country or franchise - Root has also relished playing in the Hundred, even if it is at the end of an energy sapping five-Test wrangle with India, and even if attention has inevitably shifted to upcoming Ashes selection.

Speaking on a call set up by KP Snacks, who are celebrating the achievement of installing over 100 grass root community pitches in England and Wales, Root said of the India series: "It was tiring. We fielded a lot, so it was physically quite tiring, it was mentally tiring. All the games went pretty much down to the wire. But when you flick into a new format, you go into a new dressing room and it can energise you in a different way."

Come Ashes time in November, there's no doubt that energy will be in healthy supply too.