Joe Root has questioned the need for day-night cricket in The Ashes as England prepares for the daunting spectacle in Brisbane.
The comments came as the visitors began their preparations in Queensland, after players decided not to play in a warm-up pink ball match in Canberra.
Speaking on Sunday, an English BBC journalist asked Root: “One country seems to play a lot of it and that doesn’t seem particularly fair, does the Ashes need pink ball cricket?”
READ MORE: Lehmann set to be targeted by Barmy Army in new song
READ MORE: Injury-plagued England quick’s grim Ashes setback
READ MORE: ‘Amazing’ scenes as little-known Spaniard clinches title
Joe Root speaks to media prior to an England nets session at The Gabba Getty
“I personally don’t think so,” Root responded.
“But it does add to things. It’s obviously very successful and popular here and obviously Australia has a very good record as well.
“So you can see why we’re playing one of those games and ultimately you know two years out that it’s going to be there. It’s part of making sure you’re ready for it.
“A series like this, does it need it, I don’t think so, but it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be here either.”
The combination of no daylight savings in Queensland and the day-night Test format means half of the action will likely be under lights, something Root admits will be tricky to combat.
“Previous Tests I’ve played with the pink ball, it hasn’t gotten dark until later, but here you’re going to have half the game under floodlights and in that twilight phase in the middle session which normally comes around the back-end of that second session and start of the last session, so there will be different elements to contend with, but that’s all part of the fun, that’s what it’s about,” Root said.
“It’s can we be skilful enough and brave enough to be better than Australia in those big moments?”
England were obliterated in both day-night Tests the last time they were in Australia, losing by 275 runs in Adelaide and 146 runs in Hobart.
Root however has confidence that they are ready for the unique challenges presented by the format this time around.
Day-night Test cricket in Adelaide. Cricket Australia via Getty Imag
“We’ve got different tools we didn’t have last time round,” he told the BBC.
“We’ve got a more settled team than last time as well. We might’ve lost a bit of experience in terms of bowling, but we’ve got different attributes that suit these conditions really well.
“There’s a good inner belief in what we’re trying to do and how we want to play our cricket, and that’s got to stay right at the front of what we do going into this week.
“I know if I get time out there and make good decisions for long periods of time I’m going to be successful and build those innings to set up games for us to win.”
Despite their poor performance in Perth and in day-night cricket generally, the English team completely opted out of a practice match against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra between the two Tests.
Root defended the decision, hand waving the benefits of the extra match practice.
“This is the best way to prepare personally,” Root said.
“It’s very different in terms of humidity and heat, and the surface is going to be very different.
“The fact we’re all together and we can ready ourselves as a group is also very important too. Time in the middle is one thing, but as an experienced player, I feel like I know what I need to get the best out of myself.
“This is a very different team to previous Ashes teams I’ve played in out here. One thing we’ve done previously is respond really well to bad weeks of cricket.
“When we’ve made mistakes we’ve come back out and put really good performances in. That’s something I expect us to do this time around.”
The Brisbane Test gets underway from the Gabba on Thursday, with England now needing to replace fast bowler Mark Wood, who is dealing with knee soreness.
Root was coy on Wood’s availability, saying he would do whatever possible to ready himself for Brisbane.