Ashes 2023: Joe Root will be the glue for England this summer, says Michael Vaughan

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has stated that Joe Root will be the glue for England this summer in the Ashes 2023 against Australia. Root was able to hit the ground running in the first innings of the ongoing first Ashes Test match as he scored an unbeaten knock of 118 runs off 152 balls.

The right-hander scored his 30th Test century, scoring seven fours and four sixes. The veteran walked out to bat when England was given a solid start and was 92-2 after Ollie Pope was plumbed in front of the wickets by Nathan Lyon.

Root made most of the spread field as he easily collected his singles. In fact, Root was looking good for more runs but skipper Ben Stokes decided to declare at 393-8 after 78 overs in order to have a crack at the Australian openers before the end of the opening day’s play.

Root smashed four sixes in his century-knock and one out of those four sixes came when he scooped Scott Boland while playing a reverse sweep.

“When he plays, he makes it look so easy. To scoop Scott Boland at 95 mph for a six, he makes it look so easy. That’s probably one of the most ridiculous shots, that if we try to play would just balloon in the air. He’s playing a brand of cricket which is exciting and they team is allowing him to do that,” said Vaughan.

The former England skipper added 121 runs with Jonny Bairstow, who scored a run-a-ball 78. Vaughan was impressed with Root’s knock as he played like himself.

“What I liked about his innings what that he played the Joe Root way. He’s always busy, he’s always hard to set fields for. The running between the wickets with Bairstow was outstanding. If he can be consistent, which he will be at number four, Joe Root will play the anchor role and be that glue for England in the summer,” Vaughan added.

Meanwhile, after the end of Day 2, Australia were 311-5 as Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey are unbeaten on 126 and 52 runs respectively. Thus, Australia was trailing by 82 runs and the visitors will look to get a healthy first-innings lead.