"I want to be leading it and hopefully be the man to bring the Ashes back to England"
Monday 16 September 2019 06:58, UK
Joe Root is determined to captain England in the next Ashes series in Australia and "be at the front" of their bid to regain the urn.
Root has now skippered England in two Ashes campaigns - the 4-0 thrashing down under in 2017-18 and then the 2-2 draw this summer, which was sealed with a 135-run win at The Oval on Sunday.
"Absolutely. I am very much driven towards that," said Root when asked by Sky Sports' Michael Atherton whether he wanted to lead England into the 2021-22 Ashes.
"We have got two-and-a-half years to prepare very well for it. I think it has to be a real focus for English cricket to do everything we can to be in the best possible space for that.
"I want to be at the front of that, I want to be leading it and hopefully be the man to bring the Ashes back to England.
"It has been a wonderful summer of cricket. The World Cup win was phenomenal and guys have given absolutely everything in this Ashes series.
"Collectively we have shown a lot of character throughout the whole series. We have not always played our absolute best but we have fought really hard."
The Oval Test marked the end of Trevor Bayliss' four-year reign as head coach and Root was quick to praise the Australian's impact on the team and in particular Ben Stokes.
Stokes' stellar summer included starring in the World Cup final and a remarkable 135 in the third Ashes Test at Headingley as England pulled off a thrilling one-wicket win.
"Trev is brilliant," Root said of outgoing coach Bayliss, who helped take England to No 1 in the ICC ODI rankings and to their maiden global 50-over title.
"He has added a huge amount to this Test team. He has been involved in some fantastic series wins home and away and what he has done for white-ball cricket is phenomenal.
"He is much valued in the dressing room, has a great sense of humour. We all played for him this week and are really pleased to send him off in a great fashion.
"He has allowed guys like Ben to play their way, to not be afraid to express themselves. Look at Ben's development over that period. He is now one of the world's best all-rounders.
"Over a period of time you get very strong relationships with players and coaches and those two (Bayliss and Stokes) have gelled very well.
"There is a good element of banter, they enjoy taking the mickey out of one another, and a huge amount of respect between them as well. That counts for a huge amount."
They have played very well on very difficult surfaces against a very good attack. You have to take that into consideration – it has been hard batting at the top of the order. Those guys have got stuck in, stood up to it and made some very valuable contributions. They should be very proud
On England's Oval win, in which they dismissed Australia for 263 on day four after Matthew Wade had held them up with a century, Root added: "I thought we were excellent, from the very start.
"To play as we did having lost the toss was fantastic. I thought we drove the whole game. The effort [on the final day] on a good wicket, even though it did spin. We stuck at it."
