The Ashes | Not the level an England team should be playing at: Joe Root fumes ahead of 3rd Test
England captain Joe Root has warned his compatriots in the England national team that they should be operating at a much higher level if they want to stand a chance against Australia Down Under.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference Root was seen fuming as he reiterated that the tourists cannot be ‘losing eight wickets for just 70 or 80 runs.’
"There was a lot of frustration. Purely because of the basic mistakes that we've been making. And we've done it twice in a row. We can't afford to be losing eight wickets for 70 or 80 runs. It is not good enough. It is not the level that an England Test team should be playing at," Root told reporters in Melbourne.
England have been handed a heavy drubbing in the last two Test matches. Not only have they lost two out of the five games, but have lost them in a rather humiliating manner. Asked about his emotions after the Adelaide Test, Root confirmed that he was angry despite him trying to be at his pragmatic best
"It did come easy to be angry at the end of the last game because of the situation we're in and the manner in which we lost. I'll always try to look at things with a level, pragmatic approach but I don't think you could after the way we've played those last two games. I expect a response from everyone this week.”
England take on Australia in Melbourne for the third Test match of the series that starts on Boxing Day, 26 December. Australia will be reinforced with their captain Pat Cummins who returns after missing out on the last Test match. England have called up the likes of James Vince and Saqib Mahmood going into the final three Test matches of the series.
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