Joe Root accuses nervous Australia of trying to brush England's 2015 Ashes defeat under the carpet
Australia have been busy talking up of supposed “scars” that still exist from England’s whitewash on their last tour here four years ago - and Root isn't impressed
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Your support makes all the difference.Joe Root has accused Australia of trying to brush their 2015 Ashes defeat under the carpet after the talking up of supposed “scars” that still exist from England’s whitewash on their last tour here four years ago.
Australia players past and present have been quick to remind England’s captain and the rest of his squad of the 5-0 defeat in the 2013-14 Ashes that was orchestrated by fast bowler Mitchell Johnson’s 37 wickets.
Spinner Nathan Lyon was the latest yesterday when he accused England of being “scared” during that last away Ashes series and predicted Australia’s current fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins would “end careers” in the upcoming one that starts at the Gabba on Thursday.
Root, though, was quick to remind Australia that it is England who have had the upper hand in four of the past five Ashes campaigns, saying: “You hear a lot about these scars but it’s a series which happened four years ago, we’ve won four of the last five Ashes.
“Coming off a great series in England, we’ve got a lot of guys who were part of that squad and have very fond memories of 2015.
“I don’t know whether they are just trying to brush that under the carpet or what but for me it’s completely irrelevant what happened four years ago. It’s a completely different bowling attack, those guys – Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazelwood - I don’t think have played an Ashes series in Australia themselves.
“So they are going be under pressure as well, so it’s about making sure the lads are aware that it’s not just you that is going to be feeling the heat, it is those guys as well.”
Lyon’s extraordinary outburst this week also included an attack on Root, with the Australian admitting he would like to see the England captain endure such a terrible run of form that he is dropped like he was for the final Test of the 2013-14 series in Sydney.
Root, who in the early years of his career played club cricket with Lyon in Adelaide, said: “It is a bit bizarre. I think you can sort of see through it a little as well.
“Whether that’s come from him or it’s maybe a team strategy or he’s just taken it upon himself to do that, who knows, but he’s definitely got some attention out of it and I am sure he’ll get a bit of airtime out of it.
“But the more guys talk going into a series the more they put pressure on themselves. I think the most important thing is we all know that if we look after each other as a group we give ourselves a great chance.
“One thing Australia did very well last time was talking up certain things and they delivered. But this is a completely different tour and a completely different series.”
The forecast for Brisbane over the course of the opening Test is patchy, with rain expected on the last three days.
Regardless of the weather, Root knows getting out of the Gabba undefeated, a venue where Australia have not lost a Test since 1988, would be huge for the series.
“It would certainly put them under a lot of pressure because they haven’t lost here for such a long period of time,” he said. “I suppose that is our main goal, we are going to go out there to try and upset that. We fully believe we are more than capable of doing that.”
England’s XI in Brisbane will contain just four men who have played a Test at the Gabba before – Root, Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
Yet Root is confident those experiencing the hostile atmosphere for the first time will be ready.
“The atmosphere is something that if you haven’t experienced is very different,” he said. “It is like being in India first time and being around the cricket throws up different things you haven’t experienced in England.
“Whether it is the atmosphere in the ground or the stuff and noise an Ashes series brings - ex players coming out and saying things, players saying things that a lot of the time is just a load of nonsense. “I suppose it is just being aware that the most important thing is what the rest of the guys in the dressing room think and being very clear about how you want to go out and do things on the field.
“You want to try and make sure they are prepared and know what to expect. It will be quite hostile and potentially slightly intimidating but it shouldn’t scare you. That is part of Ashes cricket. It should excite you.”
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