JOE ROOT HAS urged England to “lay down a marker” for the Ashes when their historic Test match against Ireland gets underway on Wednesday morning.
The four-day fixture is only Ireland’s third Test since gaining full member status, and for England, serves as the precursor to a five-match Ashes campaign — a gruelling schedule of six Tests in eight weeks.
Test captain Root is one of several players who were involved in England’s dramatic World Cup final that saw them beat New Zealand in a nailbiting super over.
“We don’t want to sleepwalk into this,” Root said.
“Any Lord’s Test match at the start is a good chance to set a precedent for the way we want to play for the rest of the summer.
“I don’t want anyone walking into it and not being 100% on it. It’s a great chance to lay a marker down.”
Ireland’s attack will be led by Tim Murtagh, who is no stranger to Lord’s where he plays his county cricket with Middlesex, and recently took his 800th first-class wicket.
“He’s played a huge amount of cricket and had a huge amount of success at this ground for Middlesex and in county cricket,” said Root.
“There’s a number of guys in their side who have been around the county circuit… They deserve this opportunity.”
England will be without leading all-time wicket-taker James Anderson due to a calf injury, with World Cup-winning opener Jason Roy and fast bowler Olly Stone set to make their Test debuts.
Meanwhile World Cup stars Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes have been rested ahead of the Ashes.
But Root insisted: “We won’t be taking anyone lightly or under-estimating Ireland in any way.”
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