Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Root fed-up with England's off-field issues
ANNOYED: Joe Root walks off the field after a defeat

JOE ROOT’S first Ashes tour as England cricket captain has been more eventful than he expected, just not in the way he had hoped.

“I knew it would be challenging and I knew there would be stuff around the cricket, but not to this extent,” Root said of the off-field issues that have followed his squad around Australia. “I’m fed up of talking about stuff that’s not cricket. I don’t know how I’ve still got all my hair ... I can completely see how captaincy can take its toll.”

England trails the five-test series 2-0 after losses in Brisbane and Adelaide. Australia can clinch the series with a win at the Waca in a match that will also mark England opener Alastair Cook’s 150th test and the last as the stadium’s premier cricket venue in Perth.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
England head coach Brendan McCullum wearing a McGrath Foundation pink hat on day three of the fifth NRMA Insurance Ashes Series 2025 test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia, January 6, 2026
Men’s Cricket / 12 July 2026
12 July 2026
England�s Mark Wood bowls during a nets session at the Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia. Picture date: Tuesday November 18, 2025
Men’s Cricket / 18 November 2025
18 November 2025