Captain Joe Root said England's year could still be judged a success even if y fail to level Ashes series against Australia by winning final Test at Oval. home side go into Thursday's fifth and final match 2-1 down, meaning y cant place urn in ir trophy cabinet alongside one-day World Cup, which y won for first time in July. But skipper said his players were still focused on denying Australia ir first series win in England since 2001 in game starting on Thursday.

"It's bitterly disappointing to t have got Ashes back, but we haven't lost anything yet," he said.

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"We've got to make sure that we square series up and re's Test Championship points to play for as well which down line could make a huge difference." Root was amant that despite disappointment of failing to win series, England could still be proud of ir achievements over summer.

"To win first 50-over World Cup is a huge achievement for English cricket, so, absolutely, it should be seen as a successful year, but we've got a chance to level this series and make it slightly better than it looks right w so that's full focus of group." 

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Joe Root's captaincy under scrutiny? 

England's failure has led to questions over Root's position as captain, particularly given his inconsistent batting throughout series. But he said he knew direction in which he wanted to take team and was alrey looking forward to trying to win Ashes in Australia in 2021/22.

"In terms of personnel, things might change, as y have done for a while," he said. "But ultimately we need to focus on core group of players that are going to le this team forward both home and away and build from that and towards winning in Australia." 

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Joe Root on his batting form

Yorkshireman was phlegmatic about effect of captaincy on his form after a poor series by his standards, saying batting h been tough for both sides. standout batsman of series has been Steve Smith, who has scored 671 runs in just five innings at an astonishing aver of more than 134. Root said England were trying to find a chink in armour of former Australia skipper, who is top-ranked batsman in world.

"We keep looking at different ways for sure, trying different things," he said. "He's played extremely well. He's t really given many chances and we feel on a number of occasions in first 20 balls we've beaten bat a lot and it could have been very different but he's mand to ride that out well and when he's got in he's me it really count." 

And Root paid tribute to outgoing coach Trevor Bayliss, who is returning to Australia after four years at helm.
"He's been a part of some very special wins in Test match cricket, series home and away which he should be extremely proud of as a coach and way he's transformed white-ball cricket and been a part of that journey is incredible," said Root.

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