England batter Joe Root says his 158-Test career has prepared him better than ever to end England\u2019s long winless run in Australia as he gears up for the upcoming Ashes series. Root, who recently climbed to second place on the all-time Test run-scorers list during England\u2019s 2-2 series draw against India, has amassed 13,543 runs, behind only India\u2019s Sachin Tendulkar (15,921). Despite his stellar record, the 34-year-old is still chasing his first Test win and maiden century in Australia, where he averages 35.68 from 27 innings with nine fifties. \u201cHaving toured Australia a couple of times before, and now with over 150 Test caps to my name, I feel I couldn\u2019t be more ready for the challenge,\u201d Root told British media on Thursday. \u201cThe thing that stands out for me is I probably wanted it (a century) way too much the last couple of times. It took me away from what was important.\u201d Australia won both the 2017-18 series and following home series in 2021-22 4-0 before drawing 2-2 in England in 2023 to retain the urn. England last triumphed in Australia in 2010-11, which is also the last time the tourists won a test Down Under. \u201cThere were a lot of distractions,\u201d Root said of the last two Ashes series in Australia. \u201cI was captain, COVID (in 2021-22), there was the (Ben) Stokes incident the time before that (when Stokes was ruled out of the 2017-18 tour after an incident at a Bristol nightclub), the Jonny (Bairstow) headbutt incident as well. \u201cThis time I want to just go and enjoy the tour for what it is. It is a beautiful country it is a great place to go and play cricket. I know if I put my best performances in then everything else will look after itself.\u201d This year\u2019s Ashes begins in Perth on November 21 before a day-night match in Brisbane, the third test in Adelaide and the traditional Melbourne and Sydney tests in December and January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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