“I'll look at my future beyond this tour at the end of it” - Joe Root on captaincy debate amid Ashes disaster 

England’s Test captain Joe Root has said that he will analyse his future as the team's captain at the end of the ongoing Ashes campaign. He admitted that he has some answering to do in the wake of England’s abysmal showing. Root, though, asserted that he is committed to giving it his all in the remaining two Tests.

The visitors handed over the Ashes to Australia on a platter following an insipid performance in the Boxing Day Test. They succumbed to defeat by an innings and 14 runs in a Test that lasted just over two days. Before that, the visitors went down in Brisbane and Adelaide by nine wickets and 275 runs, respectively.

In the wake of England’s spineless performances, question marks have been raised about Root’s leadership. Responding to the same, Root said:

"I'll look at my future beyond this tour at the end of it. I think there are questions for me to answer, (but) I don't think that's a distraction that should be around the group, or I should be wasting energy on right now. I need to make sure I throw everything I can into these two games.”

Trying to sound positive, the under-fire England captain added:

"I think I owe that to this team and to the players, and that will give us the best chance of getting the results we desire. All I can control right now is the next two games."

Even as England have struggled in the ongoing series, Root will be going into the Sydney Test as the leading run-getter with 253 runs at an average of 42.16.

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“It should absolutely bring us together” - Joe Root on COVID-19 affecting team's preparations

While England have failed to make an impact on the field, their cup of woes are overflowing off it as well. Coach Chris Silverwood’s services will be unavailable for the Sydney Test, as he contracted COVID-19 while isolating with family in Melbourne.

Root, though, said that the adversities being might just inspire England to go that extra mile in the upcoming games, saying:

"With the amount of coaches we have had missing, it has made things slightly disjointed and challenging, but it is an opportunity for us as a group to come together and work together."

"Human beings work together and help each other, and we tried to prepare as well as we can do and stand up in a bit of adversity, and we must use that in a positive way when we get out on the field. It should absolutely bring us together.”

Root continued:

"Sometimes when you look around the dressing room, and you know that someone's put that hard work in and helped you out, it can galvanise a team."

"I think that's is what we need right now, to really get tight and stick together. It would be easy to get fractious and point fingers at who could be better here or there, but ultimately we are in this together.”

Assistant coach Graham Thorpe will be in charge of the team for the Sydney Test. Silverwood is likely to return for the fifth Test in Hobart, which starts on January 14.

Down 0-3 in the series, England are staring at another whitewash. The visitors were blanked 5-0 in 2013-14 and lost 4-0 four years later. Asked if England fear a similar scoreline, Root responded:

"We've found ourselves in a situation here where we have clearly under-delivered with the amount of runs we scored, and have to build those partnerships and get something for bowlers to work with. On the previous two tours, it's been very similar - we've not managed to give those guys (bowlers) the respite they need to be able to back up their performances.”

Root added:

"And similarly with ball in hand, we've just got to be able to build pressure for longer periods of time. It has been very challenging, and obviously we’ve had a lot to deal with not just on the field but off it as well."

"We have two games here to show how much we care about that (playing for England) and to make sure we put in better performances than we have done so far on this tour."

The fourth Test of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 5.