‘I’d have this team every day over the Australians’: Joe Root’s odd boast ahead of England-Australia clash

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Joe Root says he would take England’s misfiring XI “man for man … every day” over the Australians ahead of their crunch Cricket World Cup clash on Saturday night.

England is bottom of the ladder with just one win from five matches, with Australia sitting pretty in third spot and odds on to make the semifinals.

Should Australia beat the defending world champions on Saturday night in Ahmedabad, England’s World Cup defence will be officially over.

“Man for man I’d have this team every day over the Australians,” former skipper Root told the BBC.

“We might not have played as well as we can but when we play our best stuff, the best teams struggle to compete with us.

David Warner holds up his bat

David Warner has two centuries already this World Cup, more than the entire England team.(Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)

“We have to remember that and take that into the next couple of days, both in physical practice and mentally to make sure we’re in that frame of mind to take on Australia, which is what it’s about for us now.”

In Adam Zampa, Australia has the second highest wicket taker for the tournament with 16 from six matches, with England’s best the now-injured Reece Topley with eight.

David Warner has scored 413 runs so far at the tournament, with two hundreds and a 50 to his name in six innings.

That’s more runs than both England’s openers Dawid Malan (236) and Jonny Bairstow (141) have managed combined.

England has not managed to see out their 50 overs with the bat in their last four matches, managing scores of just 215, 170, 156 and 129 in successive matches, including a crushing defeat against Afghanistan and a humiliating thrashing at the hands of South Africa.

Australia, who beat New Zealand in a high-scoring thriller last time out, will be without Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh for Saturday’s match, with Maxwell suffering concussion after falling from a golf buggy and Marsh heading home for personal reasons.

Adam Zampa celebrates

Australia have been flying at this World Cup, winning their last four matches.(Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)

The Aussies lost their opening two games of the tournament against India and South Africa but are unbeaten in their last four, but Root said it would be a good time to play their old rivals.

“It’s great opportunity to get back to what we expect of ourselves, the levels we put on ourselves, the levels that are expected externally as well,” Root said.

“We’re a far better side than what we’ve shown.

“It [this situation] has been unique in many ways.

“Other tours, previous Ashes, there’s been other stuff going on away from the performances that had a massive effect on how we played — this is not comparable to those experiences.”

The match at the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will be the first time the two sides have met since the acrimonious Ashes series earlier this year, from which plenty of tension remains.

In excerpts from a new book on Bazball, Jonny Bairstow said Australia claimed illegal catches during the Ashes and that his controversial stumping by Alex Carey in the second Test set a bad example for children. 

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