PotY Root spurred on by ‘pain of defeat’

Cricket365
May 23, 2016

England batsman Joe Root has revealed that being dropped after the Ashes whitewash in 2014, and the side's dire World Cup in 2015, motivated him to work even harder to reach the success he has over the past year.

Root was dropped after that Ashes tour to Australia, and resolved to get even better, and this week was rewarded for his efforts as he won the England TEst Player of the Year, as well as the limited-overs gong.

He looked back on the past two years, starting with that Ashes series, and said that it was frustrating to keep losing as he knew the team had all the right components to become successful.

Root said: "Coming out of the Ashes in 2013-14 and the World Cup in 2015 I realised how much I wanted to be a force in international cricket.

"I knew then how much work I was going to have to put in if that was going to be the case. And I have worked very hard.

"The World Cup was probably the lowest point. It was tough to take; an incredibly frustrating tour. The thing was, we had everything there: it was all starting to come together. But it was probably a year too soon.

"The pain of those defeats helped spur me on. You need that desire and that hunger. You learn from the mistakes you make. You learn from the bad games and the bad tours.

"And, when things are going well, you think about that and you make the most of it. You don't get lazy; you don't rest on your laurels. You make it count.

"This game can be brutal. As soon as you get comfortable, it bites you. You have to stay on it all the time."

Root's hard work has seen him reach number one in the ICC Test rankings, but he said he was most pleased with the Ashes win last year, showing that he could score runs against a tough Aussie attack.

He added: "To have had such a strong Ashes series was really pleasing as Australia were the one side who I'd not really scored big runs against. I was very keen to put that right.

"Then going to South Africa and coming away with a Test series win was a fantastic effort from all the players and it gives us a lot of confidence going into this summer.

"If we win these two series (against Sri Lanka and Pakistan), I believe we hold every [bilateral series Test] trophy across world cricket."