Peter Moores and Joe Root join forces again in bid to sharpen up

Yorkshire’s Root is using Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge as his individual training base as preparations increase for the start of the proposed three-Test series against the West Indies on July 8.

For now, players are working one-to-one with different coaches up and down the country.

The plan is for England to then head into a squad-based training camp towards the end of June.

Whilst Jonny Bairstow, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid and David Willey all have the use of Yorkshire coaches Andrew Gale and Rich Pyrah at Emerald Headingley, Notts coach Moores is on duty at Trent Bridge.

With Root’s south Sheffield home closer to Nottingham than Headingley, that is where he is netting.

Root and Moores have previous, working together as England player and head coach through 2014 and 2015, when the former scored four unbeaten Test hundreds and three more in one-day internationals.

Given Root’s extensive experience and quality – he has scored 14,414 runs from 270 international appearances across all formats – Moores is happy for the 29-year-old to lead the sessions, which started on Monday.

“Joe is the one who will drive what he wants to get out of this short period,” said Moores.

“Working with players at that level, they will give you a steer when they want feedback.

“I was asked would I be able to work with Joe, and I said, ‘Yes, definitely’. I’ve enjoyed it so far. I hope Joe has too.

“I spent some time with him when he was coming back into that England side (Root had been dropped briefly from the Test side at the start of 2014) trying to re-establish himself having been a young player to becoming the player he is today.

“He’s been a dominant force in that England team for a number of years, and for me to be able to reconnect with him is great.

“You learn from players like that – he’s one of the very best in the world.

“As a coach, to be able to watch him play and chat to him about his game and the experiences he’s been through, it’s very, very useful. It’s great fun, and I’m really looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”

Moores certainly does not expect to be overseeing any major revamps to Root’s batting.

“To play international cricket you need to be sharp, and that’s all he may need from this – regaining that sharpness,” he continued.

“At international level, there’s nothing that’s different aside from the pace. The basics are done at real pace, be it batters, bowlers or fielders.

“Hopefully, we can get him into a position where he’s at the top of his game ready for Test match cricket.”

Earlier this week, Root spoke of his excitement at being back in training after a near three-month enforced lay-off due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

That excitement is shared by Moores, who has returned from furlough leave at Notts to help the internationals prepare.

“Walking into the ground for the first time, it almost felt like the first day of term,” he said. “There was that slight nervous feeling over getting stuck in, having not been around it for a couple of months.

“Monday was a beautiful sunny day, and it’s nice to be back doing what I’ve done for the last 40 years as a player and coach.

“Little things are different – batters not picking the ball up but knocking it back to you. But cricket’s quite straightforward to socially distance in a net scenario because you’re 22 yards away anyway.

“It certainly does not alter the quality of work done.”

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