Johannesburg [South Africa], Jan 28 : After winning the four-match Test series against South Africa, England skipper Joe Root has said that it is nice to see things falling into place for the side in the longest format of the game.
His remarks came as England registered a 191-run victory in the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg to win the series 3-1.
With this win, England moved to the third spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings with 146 points.
“We have got a great template to work around and it’s nice to see it falling into place. We put things in place this winter about the way we want to play. It has taken the time and it will continue to take time for us to stay consistent and adapt to different conditions but we are learning quickly,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted Root as saying.
“One of our big learnings as a team is that we have taken 20 wickets in every game. That is something we have struggled with in the past when abroad with a Kookaburra ball,” he added.
Root also said that it would have helped the side during the last Ashes in Australia if they had the services of pacers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer.
Wood managed to take nine wickets in the fourth final Test against South Africa.
“It would have made a big difference to have Jofra and Woody in Australia last time, I do believe that. It’s something you feel that you need in those conditions,” Root said.
“There’s still a huge amount of Test cricket to be played before the Ashes. But this does give us confidence and it also gives us knowledge about how to perform on wickets that might be similar,” he added.
Despite winning the series, skipper Root confessed that the side has not been able to remain consistent in the longest format, and England would try its best to win the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.
“We have done extremely well in the last three games but in the last three years, we’ve not been consistent enough. We’re very open about that,” Root said.
“We go to Sri Lanka next and then we have three big games at home against West Indies. So it’s a great opportunity to string a number of good performances together. We’ve got to keep looking to get better and keep developing,” he added.
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