It’s on: England captain Root commits to Ashes

England’s captain Joe Root has committed to leading his country to Australia for the men’s Ashes, after the touring players’ remaining questions were answered by the second of two briefings with the Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley overnight.

While there was very little genuine doubt about the tour going ahead – as evidenced by the lack of contingency plans for England not turning up in Australia this summer – there will be relief at CA about the fact that the visitors can now be expected to turn up with a strong a side as possible.

England captain Joe Root with the Ashes and Australian skipper Tim Paine.Credit:Getty Images

The Telegraph in London reported that Root’s mind was made up after the second briefing with Hockley, which was arranged by CA to ensure any queries from the initial information session on Monday morning (AEDT) could be clarified.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed on Tuesday that the partners and families of England players arriving later in the series for the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests would be allowed to quarantine in a Yarra Valley resort booked exclusively for their use, complete with the freedom to leave their rooms.

This measure, in addition to the resort facilities offered to the two groups of players, staff and families arriving into the Gold Coast in November either side of the Twenty20 World Cup, was critical to reassuring Root and his players that they would not be facing two weeks confined to a hotel room on arrival.

Failure of an England team to make the tour would have blown something like a $200 million hole in CA’s finances, already stretched by the past two years of COVID-19 and additional biosecurity costs.

The ECB’s chair Ian Watmore and directors, having received the go-ahead from their players, are expected to formally confirm later this week that England will make the trip. That in turn will allow the England coach and sole selector Chris Silverwood to choose his touring squad.

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