Alastair Cook says Joe Root deserves sympathy for having to lead England into a home Ashes series less than three weeks after their World Cup triumph.
England met Australia at Edgbaston for the opening Ashes Test on July 31, just 17 days after they lifted the World Cup at Lords after beating New Zealand in a remarkable final.
Roots side suffered a demoralising defeat in Birmingham but levelled the series at 1-1 after producing a stunning fightback victory at Headingley last week.
Australia took control of the fourth match thanks to Steve Smiths sublime double century, but Root and Rory Burns both scored fifties in Englands reply.
Neither were able to go on and register a big total, however, with Burns departing 19 runs short of a hundred and Root going for 71.
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Cook, who played in seven Ashes series, said: It will be interesting to hear what Joe Root has to say about his first Ashes series at home.
I actually genuinely feel sorry for Joe. To have a massive tournament like the World Cup just before the Ashes…
When I was captain, you would have months of preparation in your own mind before the Ashes. You would be formulating plans, going through everything.
Joe had the World Cup to think about two weeks before the start of the Ashes. Thats a tough gig.
Cook finished his career as Englands leading run-scorer with over 12,000 Test runs and 33 centuries.
England have struggled to find top-order runs during the Ashes and Cook believes this is a result of a shift towards shorter forms of cricket.
The former opener told talkSPORT: The top order players are finding it hard to make the transition from county cricket to international cricket.
Yes, the standard goes up a bit. Its just what these young players have to learn. When I first started, all I had to learn was the four-day game, the longer format.
“I genuinely feel sorry for Joe Root.”
“To have such a massive series like the World Cup Just before the Ashes.”
“As captain Id have months of preparation in my own mind.”
Sir Alastair Cook explains why he has sympathy for England captain @Root66 andRead More – Source
