Root tells Australia to 'bring it on' for Ashes Test
14 Nov 2017 5:19 PM GMT
Townsville: England captain Joe Root told Australia to "bring it on", vowing to fight fire with fire as his team expect a hostile reception at next week's first Ashes Test in Brisbane.
Root said he was unfazed by talk that Australia would target him as he prepared for the first of five Ashes Tests at the Gabba and said his side will be hitting back hard.
"From our point of view, we'll be targeting every single one of them (the Australians)," the 26-year-old told reporters ahead of a second four-day warm-up match against the Cricket Australia XI in Townsville.
"Bring it on. It's what it's about. You want that competitive element to it and there are little in-house rivalries if you like. It should be a great series and they've got some great players within their squad and some good characters as well...They've got a lot of quality in their attack but we've got a lot of quality in our team as well."
Root said he expected a "hostile... very loud and rowdy atmosphere" in Brisbane, but said England were working hard to be "absolutely ready" for the first game.
One key concern is a lack of big runs for England's top order in the warm-up games so far, with no batsman going on to score a century despite most getting good starts, and a lack of runs for Alastair Cook.
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