Cricket World Cup: England halfway to 'pinnacle' of World Cup-Ashes double, says Root

Test captain Joe Root says England are halfway to reaching the cricket "pinnacle" of winning a World Cup and Ashes double.

England beat New Zealand in a dramatic final at Lord's on Sunday to lift the World Cup for the first time.

They now aim to regain the Ashes during a "massive" series with Australia, which begins at Edgbaston on 1 August.

"It's what we set out to do two or three years ago and we're halfway there," said batsman Root, 28.

England beat Australia at Edgbaston last Thursday to reach their first World Cup final since 1992 and return to Birmingham to begin their bid for a fifth straight home series victory in the Ashes.

"We couldn't be in a better place really, having achieved what we've achieved here," said Root. "This will give the guys confidence and we've talked about taking that forward into a series like that.

"The way we played against Australia in that semi-final at Edgbaston... the guys who were involved relished it and will want a bit more: the feeling of euphoria we felt at that ground and yesterday.

"To potentially be able to experience all that again is very exciting. Ashes cricket always has a different edge to it so that in itself will get everyone going."

"It's always so special," added the Yorkshire batsman. "The atmosphere, the way it builds up and the way the guys get excited about it, it's like no other series in Test cricket.

"It's something I'm really looking forward to and it'll be massive, especially on the back of this. It'll make it even bigger."

England's victory on Sunday has been compared with their Ashes success of 2005, when they won the series for the first time since 1986-87.

"I was 14 watching that 2005 series and that was hugely inspiring for me," said Root. "Hopefully we can do something similar for the next generation.

"As a team we've talked about leaving the game in a better place when we finish. The way we've gone about things in this World Cup, hopefully it's done that and the next generation want to go on and emulate what we've achieved."

Source: BBC News

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