- 22 minutes ago
England captain Joe Root on importance of strong start ahead of Pakistan first test
18/08/2026
Headingley Stadium, Leeds, UK
18/08/2026
Headingley Stadium, Leeds, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:12Hi Joe, welcome back as captain for a second stint. How are you feeling about the challenge
00:17that lies ahead and returning this test team to winning ways? Yeah I'm really excited again to
00:24get the chance to start headingly as well as always nice home ground but yeah there's it's
00:29a very talented group of players that are very capable of special things and really excited
00:35about where we can where we can take this team. How big a rebuilding job is it after what's
00:40gone on what's gone on over the last what six months? I don't think there's a huge amount
00:45that we need to change I think it's small things that will make a big difference and it's not
00:50about ripping it up I think it's about keeping a lot of the good stuff that we've been doing
00:53for a period of time and that Ben and Baz built for a long a long while but making smaller
00:59adjustments that in game will make a big difference so giving clarity to the group on what that
01:05looks like and and then putting into place over and over again. You mentioned Ben and Baz it's
01:12the end of Baz's ball will you move away from that ultra aggressive style? I don't believe
01:18that I don't believe there is a style way a one way of playing test cricket I think you've got
01:25to be
01:27adaptable and you've got to play the situation and the different tempos of the game you know it's
01:33never the same throughout the five days there are different challenges and you've got to adjust to
01:37the different ebbs and flows of it throughout that period and ultimately of course when you get your
01:41opportunity you want to put teams under pressure and and you want to find ways of driving the game
01:46forward but that might look different in different circumstances and about it's about recognizing
01:51what that looks like um and being skillful and intelligent enough to to execute that at the
01:58right times. Has it been strange not having Ben around it's a big void to fill isn't it? It's a
02:03it's a
02:04big void to fill and someone that's been ever present for you know the best part of 15 years so
02:08um clearly it's been different but again we've only been together as a full team for you know a day
02:15and a
02:15half so um you know I one thing I think that's really important for for all of us is we
02:23don't
02:23get too stuck in the last six months and we don't get too caught up in the next six months
02:28we've got
02:28a very unique series that we find ourselves in um and we've got to be very present throughout the
02:34whole of it and understand the different challenges that um Pakistan present us and and how we can get the
02:42best out of ourselves in the conditions we find ourselves in. Can you see Ben Stokes returning
02:46at a later date? Who knows who knows that's a question for Ben. Would you try and persuade him?
02:52I'm looking at like I said that's a that's a question for down the line um I just said we
02:58need
02:58to look after the hearing now and that's this series. And in the short term Dan Lawrence comes
03:02in as that all-rounder Ben Stokes has balanced the team for so long is that probably the biggest
03:07selection conundrum you've got going forward is how you get that balance? I think it's trying to find
03:12the best team for the right conditions and um you know Dan's been an exceptional player for
03:16for Surrey throughout the whole season his his numbers are amazing he's he's played some brilliant
03:20innings uh and is in great form and and I think is a very underrated bowler um so uh I
03:28think he offers
03:28a great amount clearly it is a different um makeup to the team and a different balance to things but
03:36there's no reason why that can't be successful either and it's understanding how we're going to work that
03:40through how we're going to manage that and get the best out of the 11 players that get the opportunity
03:45to take the field. And you've immediately scrapped the curfew just explain it I know you've touched on
03:52it but just just explain why and how you will make sure that the levels of professionalism
03:56are maintained without that curfew what you've said to the guys going forward. Yeah I feel like you want to
04:02um you want guys to take responsibility on the field then you have to make sure that they feel that
04:07they can
04:08um be grown up adults off it and and take responsibility off it and make good decisions
04:13and ultimately we've we've got to self-police that we've got to look after ourselves better we can't
04:18find ourselves in a situation like we have done over the last little while um and everyone knows the
04:24the responsibilities of of what it takes to play for England um but you know at the right times I
04:30still think we should be able to celebrate and enjoy that it's just doing it in the right way
04:33um and yeah just just be grown-ups about it. And finally for me how close contact have you
04:41had with Stephen Fleming how involved has he been with the build-up to this series? He's been really
04:46good I've been in constant contact with him speak nearly every day um and yes it's been good to get
04:52to to know and understand how he works how he sees things and and clearly it's going to be very
04:58different
04:58throughout these three games but uh I think very good that you know he's he's across things and
05:03uh in constant communication with me and Marcus and we're able to start building on hopefully
05:09developing something really strong over the next next little while.
05:14Do you do you see this challenge now as a as a continuation of what went before with your
05:21captaincy or are you viewing this as a completely blank sheet of paper and a sort of a brand new
05:25start?
05:26I think it's very different um if I'm being brutally honest the landscape's very different um
05:32you know I've I'm a very different player and person than I was when I took over as captain and
05:38I think it's I'm in a very fortunate and unique position where I've got 60 odd games of experience
05:44um to look back on and things that I might want to change and do slightly differently and then have
05:49the
05:50time to step away play in a different environment under a different um a different coach and a
05:56different captain and and see the game from a different lens and then be able to
06:00mold what I think is the best way of taking this team forward um so in many ways I feel
06:06as readied as
06:08as any other England captain that's ever been before you know to have that amount of experience is
06:13is invaluable so um yeah I think it's a completely different set of circumstances I'm very much
06:20looking forward to it and you obviously know about the how hard this job can get and what it can
06:24do
06:25and we saw that with Ben towards the end as well how um how important is it if he was
06:30a captain to look
06:31after jaw the batter because anyone sitting in that seat would be pretty keen to make sure the
06:37jaw the batter was going well yeah but I again I I've 160 test matches of experience and understanding
06:45of my game and I think um you know where I sit now I I look back at the last
06:51year of that first
06:5210 years probably the best I've ever batted um so in terms of managing the captaincy and my batting I
06:58felt I found a really good way of doing that and that's good to be able to call upon you
07:02know if
07:03if and when I feel the need to but um you know I look at the game very differently as
07:08I said and
07:09you know I'm I've no sort of concerns over that um being an issue and when it comes to Ben
07:16have you had
07:16your your good luck text or phone call or whatever it's gonna be uh we've we've been in conversation um
07:22um but not just yet we'll see if it comes it might have might have stopped now he's retired uh
07:27will
07:30Joe do you have a team no should we expect to wait to the toss for that or this afternoon
07:36or
07:36well we'll get it to you when it's ready what are the kind of um issues you need to weigh
07:41up
07:41with Josh and Gus obviously played in the 100th final on Sunday they're very good to go they're
07:45only trained today yeah just making sure that everyone's ready obviously we're in a very different
07:50set of circumstances with the 100 only just finishing on Sunday and um you know just want to
07:57dot every i and cross every t and make sure we're absolutely ready to go um but as challenging as
08:03that
08:03that is and you know only having the group together for a very short space of time um it's been
08:09a
08:09tournament where the guys have you know everyone that's come back into the group has has put in
08:14really good performances and can take huge confidence you mentioned those two guys winning the
08:17tournament but also bowling exceptionally well throughout it and being integral in them going
08:23on and winning that is you know as a as a player to have that confidence going into any format
08:28or any
08:29series is great so to see them up and about and um and playing well i think it's a really
08:34good sign
08:35with what's to come and under ben the bowlers always have their captain at mid-off or mid-on or
08:40whatever
08:41you feel the first slip for a long time you plan to stay there or are you uh for the
08:45short term i'm
08:45going to have a little go at mid-off i might not be as dynamic as ben at mid-off
08:49but we'll we'll see
08:50if we can make it work chris and richard um joe you called this kind of a unique series i
08:58guess that's
08:58because you're the new captain but you've done it before and there's a new coach and he's not here yet
09:03does this feel like the start of a new era to you and have you kind of told the players
09:07that this is a new
09:08beginning and kind of like the only thing that matters now is what happens these three test
09:13matches pretty much nailed it um it is it is new and um there has been a lot of change
09:20but you know
09:21that's okay i don't think that's anything to um to worry us i think we should be excited about what
09:27lies ahead and um about this this three match series and being really absorbed in in the next three games
09:34and um you know almost celebrating the talent that we have within there uh you look at the the guys
09:40that there's so much to work with and so much ability there and the capability of putting in some really
09:46strong performances so um you know hopefully we can get off to a strong start and uh and you know
09:53really
09:53lift off where we want to go you mentioned you've been in daily contact with steven steven fleming will that
09:59be the case throughout this series and when will you actually get together and meet him and kind of
10:05debrief this ahead of what's a huge huge winter we'll see uh but you know i think this the fact
10:12that
10:12we're getting a good understanding of how each other work and um you know how we see the game and
10:16being
10:17very aligned with um how we see things progression progressing is is just very important so not look too
10:25far into into the nooks and crannies of what that looks like at the end of this series it's about
10:30you know getting a full focus on on tomorrow and you know the next five days and then taking it
10:37from
10:37there but i just feel like the the more you can um enhance that relationship before he he gets out
10:45out here the the better and joe you said you wouldn't give us a team we didn't have a team
10:50is
10:50everyone actually fit for selection uh yeah i think so just again it's just it's hard when you
10:57know training sort of still going on and just want to make sure everyone's perfect kind of presuming that
11:03harry brooke is is your vice captain that's a presumption is that is that the case that he's
11:07your vice captain yeah harry's vice captain and has it been difficult at all given that there was a kind
11:11of two horse race for the captaincy it seemed um and he actually made a play of saying publicly that
11:17he quite fancied it and it'd be an honor to do the job have you had to have any conversations
11:21with him can you explain the sort of dynamic of your relationship over the last few weeks
11:25no our relationship's exactly as it has been for a long time you know me and harry are very good
11:30friends and we got very well away from cricket and and clearly um i feel like we get the best
11:36out of
11:36each other when we're we're out there playing together so he's been hugely supportive and you know
11:42and i fully feel like he's he's got my back as as the rest of the guys do so um
11:49he's going to be
11:51invaluable he's he's clearly done some brilliant things already in the white ball space um i think
11:56he's a brilliant leader within the group and you know the fact that he's he's not captain that you
12:01shouldn't be taken away from him uh i think the more we can create and enhance that from the players
12:08around us the better i guess i guess you've had that situation with ben before where ben became
12:14captain after after you were and that didn't sort of disrupt your relationship i guess is that the
12:19same kind of thing that you hope to develop with harry going forward sorry i'm gonna have to repeat
12:26that one so i was saying that you obviously had a situation previously where when when you stepped
12:30away from the captaincy you know ben became captain you've always been close friends and maybe even
12:34closer on the field after that is it is that something that you hope develops more and more
12:39with harry and you obviously just explained how close you are you know do you hope to sort of
12:43replicate what you had with ben with harry going forward yeah but i just want harry to be authentic
12:48just to be himself you know and to to feel like he can get the best out of himself as
12:52a player and and
12:53clearly as a as a senior player within the dressing room um you know i think he sees the game
12:57really
12:57well he'll offer offer up a huge amount um in many ways in that in that respect and the more
13:04he
13:04can you know be himself and keep adding whether that be leading through his performances out in
13:10the field or you know offering in different ways then then brilliant but yeah if he's if he's he was
13:17comfortable in his own skin then i think he's in a good place just finally here at heading the
13:22the conditions can change and then dictate you're talking about tempo of the game obviously when the
13:27clouds rolling it becomes very different to when the sun's out here how sort of aware are you
13:31are you going to make the team of the sort of unique aspect of i guess of this ground knowing
13:36it so well yeah i think everyone's very well versed on what headingly can produce and how things can
13:42change quite quickly and that's one of the challenges of test cricket but it's can you use it to your
13:47advantage and can you recognize those moments and get ahead of the opposition and and you know have a
13:52a really strong way of committing to you know what you think is the best way to take on those
13:59those
13:59moments um and that that'll a lot of the time that defines the game right and um you can sometimes
14:05make the right call and and still not get the desired result but ultimately i want guys to feel like
14:11they can they can go out there trust their judgment trust their gut call um and and as get to
14:18where
14:18we want to get to off the back of that hi joe have you thought about that game at the
14:27oval you obviously
14:28spoke a lot about your previous stint as captain back before ben but this game at the oval earlier
14:34this year are there things that you take you learn from that that you'll you'll take forward into into
14:38this stint uh yeah to a small degree but again i think it's very different again um there was a
14:45lot
14:46going on that week and there's a lot of difference in terms of personnel this week as well so um
14:53you're
14:54always looking at different things and scenarios that you might you know whether that's your individual
14:57game as a player um how you manage conditions how you play did you play the do you feel like
15:02you
15:03executed the shot right or made the right decision in that specific moment so um you're always looking
15:09to evolve and adapt and the reason i've played 160 games because i've had that mentality as a player and
15:15i don't
15:15think captaincy is any different and of course you're going to make mistakes and get things wrong
15:19it's how you respond to that and how you you learn and evolve off the back of it so um
15:24that will never
15:26really change and you said you don't want to look too far ahead with this beyond the series when you
15:33asked to do the job and the conversation since has there been a time put on it of how long
15:39until you
15:39reassess or how long you are doing this fall no not at all so i'm just looking forward to trying
15:46to
15:46build something quite special and over a period of time um you know continue a lot of the good work
15:52that's been been done in the in the previous four years and and try and shape it and make it
15:57um an even
15:58stronger team and a better team to to go and produce the results that we want against every opposition in
16:03any conditions we find ourselves in hi joe um from the outside at least there have been moments over
16:10the last few months when things have looked a bit messy i think it's fair to say has it felt
16:14that way
16:15on the inside and do you regard part of your role as restoring a bit of calm and order to
16:22proceedings
16:22well i think that's not my natural personality is probably suited to that um but ultimately it's you
16:29i it is about looking after the here and now and you know getting too caught up in what's gone
16:35before
16:35is not it's not necessarily going to help us it's what do we need right now um what's going to
16:41get the
16:41best out of this group and and what does it take to evolve as to where we want to get
16:45to and and if
16:47we're good enough to to work that through and skillful enough to execute that then um we'll get there
16:59i was going to ask you about uh emilio gay came into the side did pretty well actually against
17:03new zealand for the first couple of tests and then found himself at six and the kind of reshuffle
17:07at trendbridge prepare last week any any concerns there no concerns you know again i want him to go
17:13out there and be himself and play with presence to to come in and and on a challenging wicket in
17:19particular at lords like the the way that he played there and against a very skillful attack um should
17:24give him a huge amount of confidence coming into this series so um of course last week he might
17:30not have gone exactly how i wanted but this is very different again and it's another opportunity
17:34to score runs for england so he i want him to be himself feel like he um you know it's
17:39his stage
17:39and he can and go and deliver what he's done so many times for durham and i know you're not
17:44looking
17:44backwards but did bangladesh beating australia add to your frustration of what happened last winter
17:50um no not really um you know again reflected on that seeing it and you know lived it and
17:59again we'll we are going to play australia in a short little while but we've also got a lot of
18:05cricket to play between now and then and you know if we get the results that we want and we
18:10can build
18:10confidence through through that um then we'll see where we're at when you know when it comes to
18:17looking at um taking them on in a year or so's time
18:23joe what are your observation of the wicket and the conditions and especially pakistan is relying on
18:28muhammad abbas who has nearly 300 county wickets so do you think he might be a challenge for england
18:34yeah he's certainly going to be uh someone that knows the conditions very well the fact that he's
18:39played so much county cricket and and clearly a fine baller in his own right anyone can see in the
18:44ball as much as he has done in places like dubai's is going to exploit english conditions um
18:51but you know there's a number of towns of plays within that team headingly can be quite a unique
18:56ground where sometimes you want to look up not down um the pitch itself looks very good and and
19:00should be i think i know i'm probably biased being from yorkshire but i feel like it produces
19:06really good test cricket and really good test match wickets um but i think a lot of it will also
19:12rely on the overhead conditions and what that brings so it'll be about adapting to what's right
19:16in front of us being very present and playing the the situation that uh we find ourselves in um and
19:25you know being skillful enough to answer any questions that are thrown at us by the pakistan attack
19:33hi joe um have you and the other batters either worked or or discussed the um uh playing with
19:40the with the keeper up to some so obviously new zealand used it and australia obviously used it against
19:44you guys yeah and i think it's going to become a more current uh common thing throughout i think
19:50if there's an opportunity to bring more modes of dismissal in the game why wouldn't you look to do it
19:54and i'm sure there'll be times when we look to do it as well and if the conditions suit and
19:58it feels
19:59like the right way to operate but you're always looking at different ways that teams might break
20:03you down and everyone will have their individual ways of of countering that um but you know as part
20:09of your preparation it's understanding what that might look like for your game and understanding how
20:14you're going to score your runs um and um sometimes it can be an advantage some balls don't like it
20:20um some keepers find it difficult it can be quite tricky for the slip so you can almost find yourself
20:26um in a position where you're more confident and i guess it's just finding the right thing that fits
20:32your game and uh makes you comfortable that you still feel that you can score the runs that you want
20:38and the last one we're back
20:44hi joe obviously england again is a special moment but having the first one back here at headingley
20:51must be extra special very special like i say to any time to come home as a as a yorkshireman
20:57to play
20:57here is is very nice so um yeah i think i got announced as captain here a long time ago
21:05now
21:05um first time around so it it feels pretty pretty cool to get the chance to do it again and
21:10to to lead
21:11the team out here thank you
Comments