The 107-run loss to close out 2019 was enough for Root to dish out a few home truths to his players who have serially underperformed across the last 12 months. Head coach Chris Silverwood backed up his skipper before other players joined in the conversation as things got a bit emotional. “We actually spoke quite honestly after the game and it’s sometimes nice actually when there is a bit of emotion involved,” said Root. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Stokes and Root are the only players that he can really rely on to deliver a Test class performance. Probable TeamsSouth Africa: Elgar, Malan, Hamza, du Plessis (c), van der Dussen, de Kock (wk), Pretorius, Philander, Rabada, Nortje, MaharajEngland: Sibley, Crawley, Denly, Root (c), Stokes, Pope, Buttler (wk), Curran, Bess, Broad, Anderson

Source: Daily Mirror January 02, 2020 17:03 UTC