Root desperate to avoid more England agony

Joe Root has said England’s much-vaunted attempt to rebuild their standing with their fans, let alone the rest of the cricket world, will come to nothing if they suffer yet more humiliation during the ongoing one-day series with Sri Lanka. England, in classic early season English conditions, were bowled out for just 99 as Sri Lanka cruised to a huge 157-run victory in the second ODI at north-east county Durham’s Chester-le-Street headquarters on Sunday to level the five-match series at 1-1 after the hosts won in a rain-affected opener at The Oval. Improvement needed The series continues at Manchester’s Old Trafford today and with crowds appearing to be down after England’s 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia, Root -bowled for a third-ball duck by Lasith Malinga at the weekend- knows a repeat of the Durham debacle won’t go down well with the paying public. “We don’t want fans turning up for games and seeing a performance like that,” said the Yorkshire batsman after Sunday’s drubbing. “It’s quite embarrassing.” But Root insisted England, who will hope to welcome back captain and opener Alastair Cook at Old Trafford after he missed Sunday’s match with a groin strain, had not lost faith in their collective ability to win the series. “We played some really good cricket at The Oval, which was not even a week ago now,” said Root. “If we do play at the top of our game we’re going to beat sides like Sri Lanka.” Root though was at a loss to explain why England had batted so badly at Chester-le-Street. “There isn’t one (explanation) that slaps you in the face,” he said. “I think there are little things from a personal point of view that we can work on...