Joe Root News

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Tribe, 21, stood out during the Lions' tour Down Under over the winter, and is now expected to provide competition for both Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett this summer.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: If Brendon McCullum may not enjoy spending the Test summer on probation, then he should console himself with the thought that he's lucky still to be in the role.

Brook has spent several weeks vowing to take responsibility for his off-field actions that to within a whisker of being stripped of the white-ball captaincy. Now, here he was taking it on the field.

Despite Ben Stokes' plea to halt the Aussie influx to the County Championship ahead of next year's ashes, a number of players are closing in on deals with English sides for this season.

England pulled another rabbit from their Bazball hat by sending out Rehan Ahmed to open the batting in their second one-day international win over Sri Lanka in Colombo.

SIR JAMES ANDERSON: The first thing I would insist upon is players going back into county cricket to prove they are good enough to face New Zealand at Lord's in June.

A handful of England's stars have flown home after yet another disastrous Ashes series on Australian soil.

Let's face it, cricket and alcohol have history. In fact, they are intrinsically linked, dating back to Victorian times when village green contests were followed by post-match pints in the local.

There was a time, on a very flat track in Rawalpindi not so many winters back, when Harry Brook telegraphed the very distinct sense that he would become a tornado in Test cricket.

Daily Mail Sport's LAWRENCE BOOTH was at all five Tests as England succumbed to another battering Down Under - here are his Ashes series player ratings.

Tomorrow, thank God, the Ashes will come to an end, bringing the curtain down on a series of unforgivable crimes against cricket.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: Cause for celebration, then, at the end of a long, humiliating tour, but also cause for regret. This ought to have been Bethell's 14th Test, not his sixth.

As the ball hung in the air, you almost knew what was coming. Travis Head had been the key wicket all series, and England desperately needed to see the back of him. So Will Jacks dropped it.

Australia go into Day Three of the Test with a slight upper hand after a seesawing battle highlighted by Joe Root's outstanding century.

Australian expert Sarah Rodrigues offers a guide exploring Australia's biggest city, with activities including kayaking across Sydney Harbour, climbing Harbour Bridge and some of the best spots to eat.

As the clouds gathered around The Sydney Cricket Ground on day one of the final Ashes Test, glum fans trudged their way out of the venue, feeling short-changed at having missed an afternoon of cricket.

It takes a lot for a painting-by-numbers 46 to overshadow a masterpiece 160, but Jamie Smith gave it a go on a wildly oscillating second day at the SCG

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: A superlative 160 from Joe Root laid the foundation for England's first-innings 384 - only for some of the gloss to be removed when he left the field clutching his back.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: A superb 160 from Joe Root lifted England to 384 on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test - their highest total in Australia since making 491 in 2017.

The Fox Cricket's commentary box is usually a sancrosanct area, reserved only for pundits, broadcasters, cricketing legends and television crews.

Ahead of the final Test in Sydney and before a review of what went wrong takes shape, these are the players that can help win back the urn in 18 months' time.

This is my sixth Ashes tour, and the previous five had encouraged a hypothesis: even if Australians aren't always gracious winners, they can be magnanimous in defeat.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN MELBOURNE: Joe Root has urged English cricket to stick to its guns once the Ashes are over.

DAILYMAIL+ BEST OF 2025: There are 18 first-class county headquarters in Britain, and Daily Mail Sport's Lawrence Booth has been to them all - many times over. Here, he ranks them.

On a triumphant Ashes tour, a beery four-day break at a holiday resort becomes an example of camaraderie, another of the one-percenters (or four-and-a-halfs) that add up to sporting glory.

Comparing England's cricketers socialising between matches to a stag do is completely over the top and, as someone who has lost Test series in Australia myself, I have sympathy for them.

Yes, you read it right: in the immediate aftermath of losing the Ashes in 11 days, McCullum had the brass neck to say that he wants to still be England coach as 'it's a pretty good gig and good fun'.

Joe Root appeared to cheekily joke that Marnus Labuschagne had smeared super glue on his hand, as he and the Australian shared a lighthearted moment on Sunday in Adelaide.

Head has become a symbol of England's failure and Australia's spirit. He plunged England into misery in Perth and now he wants to finish the job before we even get to Melbourne and Sydney.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN ADELAIDE: On the day England needed a miracle, they got the off-spin of Will Jacks and Joe Root. Australian minds will know that the tourists are not serious about winning.

There are other worthy contenders but unless something goes horribly awry, unless this award is based on which sports the BBC televises rather than who deserves it, there can only be one winner.

None of England's previous Ashes tours began with the optimism surrounding this one. But after eight days' cricket, that optimism, and that Bazball template, has been destroyed.

The Ashes are almost gone for another two years. Thursday in Adelaide felt like witnessing a lot more than the turning point in a match. It felt like watching the end of an idea.

It's embarrassing that a series of this magnitude, with careers on the line, should tolerate even the possibility of inaccuracy, when the UltraEdge used in England is far more precise.

England's disregard for the evidence of the past has empowered multiple record-breaking Test wins under Brendon McCullum. But now might just be the right time to look to the history books.

Shoaib Bashir's Test career is far from over - but it is certainly on hold. England's No 1 spinner has been cast adrift in the very series for which he was groomed. It is every bit as bad as it looks.

The vocabulary of the alpha male prevails as England look to stop the Ashes pain. Ben Stokes is looking for 'dog' in his players. No discussion of such nuanced qualities as intelligence and attrition.

When Joe Root, wide-eyed and 19, touched down at Adelaide airport one October evening in 2010, he was not quite the slip of a lad you might remember now.

There are other worthy contenders but unless something goes horribly awry, unless this award is based on which sports the BBC televises rather than who deserves it, there can only be one winner.

It won't be much consolation to Ben Stokes or the England team that lost the second Test at the Gabba, but when it comes to tours going wrong in Australia, I have been in worse situations than this.

It pains Matt Prior to say it, but say it he does. England's former wicketkeeper is ticking about the performance that left Ben Stokes's side two down in the Ashes with three to play.

Six days of action, and it's almost all over already. England's Ashes hopes are hanging by a thread after a dreadful first two Tests left them needing to win all three matches to win back the urn.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN BRISBANE: The claim will infuriate fans who have watched their team press self-destruct after a total of only five days of cricket at Perth and Brisbane.

Aussie opener Jake Weatherald has defended England's diabolical fielding after the tourists dropped five catches at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday.

After the euphoria, the return to Planet Earth. If the first day at the Gabba was all about Joe Root, the second was a wearily familiar tale of Australian batsmen grinding English bowlers into the local dirt.

It was a difficult first session in the field. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith put down a simple catch from Travis Head, off the bowling of Archer, and that seemed to suck the life out of England's bowlers.

The England veteran silenced the critics with a dominant century - but a well known Aussie newspaper wasn't letting up with its criticism.

Grace Hayden, 23, took to social media on Thursday to thank the England batter after his majestic 135 on day one of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane rescued England.

Thursday was Crawley's day for defusing bombs. It seems that those who despise England's brand of attacking cricket regard Bazball as a many-headed monster with Crawley's face etched on every one.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE GABBA: Joe Root had wondered during the build-up to this crucial second Test whether the Ashes really needed a pink-ball game at all.

Joe Root finally scored his first Test hundred in Australia as the England legend broke a major hoodoo in his career.

One of the questions people have been asking in the build-up to Brisbane, given his elite record of 81 wickets in pink-ball Test matches, is how best to keep out Mitchell Starc.

It has taken Mitchell Starc only about a decade to come round to the idea of pink-ball Test cricket. In the end, it was the sheer weight of his own numbers that persuaded him he had little choice.

The Australian media have aimed their latest barb at England ahead of the second Ashes Test later this week.

Steve Smith appears to be channelling his inner NFL player as he debuted a new look during training on Sunday.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN BRISBANE: Joe Root has questioned the need for a pink-ball Test in the Ashes as England gear up for Thursday's crucial day/night game at Brisbane's Gabba.

When Chris Broad suggests it will be 'tricky at the Gabba, because all eyes are going to be on him', it hardly needs explaining that he's talking about England's troubled opener Zak Crawley.

As if making a good impression with Andrew Flintoff's Lions in Australia was not enough, Durham's Emilio Gay has lined up an unusual route to further his England ambitions.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LAWRENCE BOOTH: Robin Smith has had plenty to be grateful for, and much to test him. By his own admission, he is lucky still to be here.

Mark Wood has lifted the lid on what the mood was like inside England's dressing room in the immediate aftermath of their disappointing defeat by Australia.

Graham Thorpe's widow has hit out at the network within English cricket, declaring her husband would still be alive if he was given better support.

JIMMY ANDERSON: England have now got to treat this as a four-Test series, and forget that the first Test happened. They've got to try to win all four matches, starting in Brisbane.

Cricket fans were left in stitches by the footage of Stuart Broad reacting to a disastrous moment for England in the first Test in Perth.

The West Australian has once again mocked Joe Root and England after Ben Stokes' side fell to a dramatic eight-wicket defeat on the second day of the opening Ashes Test in Perth.

England had a humiliating start to the Ashes as Ben Stokes' side endured a batting collapse to lose the first Test by eight wickets to Australia. Daily Mail Sport's Lawrence Booth rates the players

The Ashes chaos spilled into the commentary box on another pulsating day of action in Perth , with Stuart Broad 's stunned reaction to Joe Root 's dismissal going viral on social media.

At 65 for one after lunch on the second day of the first Test, they led by 105, and had Australia by the short and curlies. In the blink of an eye, they were 88 for six, fighting for their lives.

The Aussies got off to a spectacular start when England chose to bat in the first innings - but many fans weren't over the moon when the team first took to the field.

Tuck into Daily Mail Sport's Ashes Breakfast, the first such edition on the opening day of the much-anticipated tour of Australia, keeping you up to date with all the nuggets you may have missed.

COMMENT BY LAWRENCE BOOTH IN PERTH: What seemed clear from Steve Smith's mockery of Monty Panesar was that the wounds of Sandpapergate have not fully healed.

England's cricket stars are gearing up for the first Test against Australia in Perth , which starts on Friday, hoping to win a series Down Under for the first time since 2011.

'Hit the ground running,' says Andrew Strauss. Mike Gatting advises: 'If you get on top, stay on top.' For Mike Brearley, it was 'seize your moment'. It sounds simple. But it is not.

Cricket legend Mark Butcher has hit back at Australian media outlets by claiming their attempts to get under the skin of several England stars were lame.

With combined XIs floating around and this being one of the closest-matched series - especially Down Under - in recent memory, who really has the better weapons heading into this all-out assault?

The Aussies head into the first Test on Friday in Perth with a weakened and ageing team.

When Archer makes his first international appearance on Australian soil later this week, it will be the culmination of a very careful strategy.

Aussie cricket legend Matthew Hayden has made a pact with his former team-mate Greg Blewett that he'll walk around the MCG naked if Joe Root doesn't get a ton.

You must venture to New Zealand's South Island to understand how McCullum developed his attitude towards cricket and the blueprint for tackling Australia over the next seven weeks.

No sooner had Joe Root landed in Perth than he came face to face with a microphone - and questions about his record Down Under.