Root world’s best test batsman

Australian coach Darren Lehmann has brushed off a devastating Ashes series loss with an outing to Britannia Stadium to watch Stoke City against Liverpool in the English Premier League.

The 24-year-old right-hander made 130 in the fourth match at Trent Bridge to help England crush Australia by an innings and 78 runs on Saturday to reclaim the Ashes.

Lehmann also chose to put behind the disappointment and focussed on the prospect of giving Michael Clarke a fitting farewell at The Oval in the final Test. “I’m actually looking forward to the last Test“, he said.

“We’ve got to try to get a result there”.

“Alastair has been a fantastic captain throughout the series and throughout this summer”, said Root.

There was an extra accolade for England’s middle-order linchpin too when the latest global Cricket Council rankings revealed he has deposed Australia’s Steve Smith as the world’s number one Test batsman.

“Hopefully it’s just the start of something and the challenge now is to stay there”. “He’s shown it already in test cricket earlier this year”, Bayliss said.

“I’m so proud of this young team and the way they’ve taken this opportunity”.

Worryingly for Australia, he believes his game is still improving.

However, if Anderson doesn’t get fit for the final Ashes Test that will be played at The Oval from August 20, it will be interesting to see whether England will make any changes to their line-up.

Smith, surrounded by old hands for so much of his worldwide career, steps into a leadership vacuum. “But I think he’ll work out what works for him on and off the field the best”.

“I think it’s the right time as he has been fighting inner demons and battling his game for the last 12-18 months”.

It also claimed Clarke’s apparent refusal to travel on the team bus or socialise with teammates was an issue, while the sacking of popular vice-captain Brad Haddin after time off for family reasons did not go down well.

For Clarke, the biggest disappointment is that his own output of just 117 runs in eight innings has doubtless contributed to Australia’s downfall.

“They know he is one hell of a player, and a very good captain”. “But we’ve always (previously) wanted five bowlers, so we probably got that selection wrong”, Lehmann was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

He said this way – “I’ll be honest, there were times when I thought Cooky was going to quit as captain”.