LONDON, March 31: England Test captain Joe Root has said watching the first few episodes of a documentary about the Australian cricket team has been a �motivator� ahead of the 2021/22 Ashes Down Under.
�The Test� charts Australia�s progress from the low of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa through to the high of retaining the Ashes in a drawn series in England last year after the hosts and eventual champions beat them in the World Cup semifinals.
The largely well-received documentary has also been accused of being a public relations exercise given Cricket Australia had editorial control.
But with cricket suspended worldwide because of the coronavirus pandemic, Root decided to take a look.
�Whilst we were away (on tour) I exhausted a lot of the shows that I wanted to watch, it�s come round to watching that now,� he told reporters in a conference call on Monday.
�It�s been a good motivator to get back and train, get back on the bike, use it as a way of incentivising myself.
�I�ve only got to the start of the World Cup, so we�ll see how the rest of it unfolds.� Root, while acknowledging the importance of the World Test Championship, made clear an Ashes series in Australia remains the acid test for an England cricketer.
Under his leadership, England were beaten 4-0 in the 2017/18 Ashes. � AFP
