Ashes 2021-22: Joe Root backs Chris Silverwood to stay on as England coach

Silverwood’s
position,
which
he
has
held
since
being
promoted
from
bowling
coach
in
October
2019,
is
under
growing
pressure
with
England
3-0
down
to
Australia.

The
46-year-old
presided
over
the
Test
defeats
in
Brisbane,
Adelaide
and
Melbourne
before
missing
last
week’s
drawn
fourth
Test
in
Sydney
because
of
COVID-19.

He
is
now
back
with
the
squad
for
the
start
of
Friday’s
final
Test
in
Hobart
and
Root
is
hopeful
it
will
not
be
Silverwood’s
last
at
the
helm.

Asked
if
he
would
like
to
see
Silverwood
remain
in
charge,
Root
said:
“Yes,
I
would.

“It
was
a
difficult
week
for
the
group
of
players
with
him
not
being
around
and
it
must
have
been
very
difficult
for
him.

“But
I
think
the
performances
we
put
in
during
the
first
three
games,
I
feel
we’ve
let
him
and
the
coaches
down
to
a
degree.

“We’ve
not
played
anywhere
near
the
level
we’re
capable
of.
It’s
a
chance
to
do
that
this
week.”

England
have
a
three-Test
series
with
West
Indies
to
come
after
the
Ashes
and
then
host
New
Zealand,
India
and
South
Africa
later
in
the
year.

They
suffered
nine
Test
defeats
in
a
logistically
challenging
2021
that
forced
Silverwood
to
shuffle
his
resources
due
to
COVID
bubbles
and
player
withdrawals.

And
Root
praised
Silverwood
for
the
manner
in
which
he
has
gone
about
his
business
over
the
past
18
months
or
so.

“I
think
he’s
very
calm,
he
has
the
respect
of
the
guys
and
he’s
got
a
desperation
to
see
everyone
do
well
or
up-skill
the
players
as
best
he
can,”
Root
said.

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“He’s
had
a
very
difficult
time
of
it
with
the
environments
we’ve
been
living
in,
trying
to
manage
winning
matches
with
bubble
environments
away
from
home,
and
multi-format
players
trying
to
prepare
for
an
Ashes
and
a
World
Cup.
It’s
very
difficult.

“For
a
long
time
we’ve
not
been
able
to
put
our
best
teams
out
because
we’ve
been
constantly
trying
to
make
sure
from
a
mental
wellbeing
point
of
view
everyone
is
looked
after
properly,
because
of
the
schedule
we’ve
dealt
with
over
two
years.”