Joe Root explains England’s blueprint to recapture form in 2025-26 Ashes series

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“I thought my pace was really good in the second inning. One mistake, you play and you miss or you get between the keeper and the four-pointer and you never think about it again. So there’s a bit of realism. Yes, there are things I could do differently if I get the opportunity again, but at the same time it’s not the end of the world.”

Asked whether England’s batsmen need to use a few more gears to balance attack and defense in Brisbane, Root resorted to a word favored by captains and caches over the years: execution.

“I think we need to work a lot better and understand how to score our runs on given surfaces,” Root said. “We do it well individually and we do it for long periods of time, it is the art of batting.

“It’s about understanding what the individual looks like ahead of this game, understanding the conditions, understanding the pink ball, understanding the threat that the Australian bowlers can pose to you.

“Making sure you’re as prepared as you can be and have all the tools you need to survive and thrive and experience all those different moments that will serve you well in games.”

While Root noted that pink-ball Tests could turn on a dime due to changing conditions once the floodlights come on (something that will be more common in Brisbane given sunset is earlier than in Adelaide), he maintained that England were still much better equipped to compete than previous touring teams.

“We have different tools that we didn’t have last time,” he said.

“We have a more established team than last time. We may have lost some experience in bowling, but we have different characteristics that suit these conditions very well.

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“There’s a good internal belief about what we’re trying to do and how we want to play our cricket and that should be right at the forefront of what we do going into this week.

“If I put in the time there and make good decisions over a long period of time, I know I will be successful and make those innings to set up plays for us to win.”

Root expected speedman Mark Wood to reappear at some point in the series, although he was unsure when he would be ready to move on.

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