SOUTHAMPTON: England’s hard-earned Test series wins over the summer with a blend of youth and experience show the side’s drive to be the number one team in the world, according to captain Joe Root.

England beat the West Indies 2-1 and Pakistan 1-0 in a rain-hit series which, coupled with their success in South Africa at the start of the year, continue an upward trajectory with new players in the team.

“To have won both series is a great achievement for the group,” Root told reporters. “Young guys have continued to keep improving and show their worth within the squad, while we have also seen some special individual performances from senior players, who showed they can keep driving this team forward.”

Opener Dom Sibley, Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley are three young batsmen who have shown their potential, the latter scoring an eye-catching 267 against Pakistan in Tuesday’s drawn Test that is the 10th highest score by an Englishman ever.

Veteran pace bowler James Anderson reached 600 Test wickets in the same game and said afterwards he now has 700 in his sights, while 34-year-old Stuart Broad’s 29 wickets in the two series at an average of 13.41 suggest he has plenty more to give.

Root believes that attitude off the pitch, as well as skill on it, will be a major factor in how this side develops over the next few years.

“The thing I’m excited about is the environment we have in the dressing room. The attitude of the guys about how they want to keep improving and learning about the game, even the senior players,” he remarked. “I think that is what gives a great opportunity to get to that number one spot down the line.”

England are uncertain of their next Test assignment due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic as they head into home limited overs series with Pakistan and Australia, and Root admits that will create a delicate balancing act for their five-day specialists.

“Its going to be important that whenever it is we get the opportunity to play [Tests] again, we have some form of cricket before that. We just have to wait and see,” he said.

Anderson, meanwhile, refused to rest on his laurels as he revealed Root wanted him to feature in the 2021-22 Ashes tour of Australia despite the fact he will be nearly 40 when England begin their quest to regain the urn from their arch-rivals.

He insisted there was no reason why he couldn’t still be a key member of England’s attack Down Under.

“To be honest I’ve chatted to Rooty about this a little bit and he has said he would like me to be in Australia,” Anderson told reporters.

Anderson is already at an age where many pacemen of previous generations have long since retired. But his hunger for wickets shows no sign of being sated, even though he has already enjoyed the rare experience for an England cricketer of starring in a victorious Ashes campaign in Australia, in 2010-11.

“I don’t see any reason why I can’t be [involved],” he said. “I’m working hard on my fitness all the time, working hard on my game. I didn’t bowl as well as I’d have liked for the whole summer but this Test match I was really on it and I feel like I’ve still got stuff to offer this team.

“As long as I still feel like that I think I’ll keep going. There will be decisions along the way with the selectors and coach and captain around how the team moves forward.

“It felt amazing to get 600 wickets, but even if I didn’t get it here there are worse numbers to be stuck on for a few months than 599, so I’d have been happy either way,” said Anderson, who was happy to see Root feature in his landmark achievement.

“But it means a huge amount to see Joe taking the catch, I have played loads of Test cricket with Joe and also with Stuart Broad. I was fortunate enough to be out on the field for his 500th wicket [last month] and it has meant a lot to both of us.”

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2020