It will be a do or die situation for England in the upcoming third Test of the Ashes series as they try to fight their way back. A defeat in Brisbane followed by another loss in Adelaide saw the English side on the back foot. England captain Joe Root will be poised to change the fortunes of the side with bat as he is determined to score a ton in the Ashes series.
"I feel in a really good place with my batting. I feel confident I can, in these next three games, bang out a hundred in these conditions. I know that's a brave thing to say but my conversion rate this year, it's not been an issue at all,” 30-year-old Root told the English media.
"I expect a response from our players and I would like to bring a nice Christmas present home for everyone who stays up,” he added.
Root has scored 1630 runs in 14 Test matches in 2021 and has a good opportunity to go past Mohammad Yousuf’s record of 1788 Test runs in a calendar year. As things stand he needs 159 more runs to cross the tally and is in a perfect position to smash the record with still two innings being left in the calendar year. Root has so far scored 175 runs in the Ashes series with a highest score of 89 in the second innings at Brisbane.
Cummins returns
England will get into the third Test on Boxing Day (December 26) knowing that anything less than a win will see the Aussies retain the Ashes for the third time in a row. The Aussies will be full of confidence at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as they aim to seal the series. Australia will have captain Pat Cummins back for the third Test after missing out on the Adelaide encounter.
Cummins tops the latest ICC rankings for bowlers while his teammate Marnus Labuschagne tops the batsmen rankings. The latter overtook Root for the top spot as Root dropped to second and will now eye the top spot to bring England back in the Ashes.
Australia lost the last Boxing Day Test against India, which will be the only encouragement for the English side.
