High on the incredible numbers that tuned in to see England become world champions for the first time, Joe Root has urged fans to stay plugged in to cricket and get immersed in the Ashes.
Root takes over from Eoin Morgan as the captain of the ship for the rest of the summer and with several World Cup winners making up part of the Test team there will be plenty of familiar faces for any new fans to recognise.
There were nearly NINE million people watching across Sky and Channel 4 as the most dramatic final in history drew to its heart-pounding conclusion.
And Root is out to keep as many as possible enthralled by the game he loves by leading his side to Ashes success against the team England thrashed in the World Cup semi-final.
“It will obviously be very different,” said Root. “But we’d love them to stay tuned in because it is always so special.
(Image: PA)
“We’ve a week before we meet up as a group and start to prep properly for it. But there’s been a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes to make sure we’re ready when that comes around.
“It’s like no other series in Test cricket. I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be massive. Especially on the back of this World Cup win.
“It would be the pinnacle. It’s what we set out to do at the start of the year and we’re halfway there. We couldn’t be in a better place, really. Having achieved what we’ve achieved here,
“There will be talk about us going one step better and picking ourselves up off the back of it. But ultimately the confidence this will give the guys to take into a series like that will be immense.
“Especially the way we’ve played against Australia at Edgbaston in that semi – the guys involved will relish that and want more of that.”
It was the 2005 Ashes that last had the nation gripped by cricket and Root was one of thousands of kids who were inspired by the side captained by Michael Vaughan and who had their own talismanic all rounder in the shape of Andrew Flintoff.
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Ben Stokes is that man for this generation and after losing the last Ashes series Down Under without him, Root will be hoping his mate can deliver for him in the same way he did for Morgan.
“Perhaps it was written in the stars for Ben on Sunday,” he said.
“He has been incredible for us in every format and hopefully he can keep going the way he has.
“I was 14 years old when I watched that 2005 Ashes series and it was hugely inspiring for me. Hopefully we can do something similar for the next generation now.
“We’re doing everything we can to widen the reach of it. As a team we talk of leaving the game in a better place when we finish and taking it forward all the time.
“I feel like the way we’ve gone about things in this World Cup has hopefully done that and given an opportunity for the next generation to see what we’ve achieved and want to go on and emulate it.”
