Root still thinks he has T20 future

England Test captain Joe Root thinks he can still offer something in T20 matches despite limited involvement in the format. The Yorkshire batsman had an extremely busy summer after representing England in the ICC World Cup, which they spectacularly won against New Zealand in July by virtue of a ‘super over’ in the final. England then hosted Australia in the Ashes series as they failed to regain the urn following a 3-1 series defeat. Root has only played in 23 T20 matches since the last World T20 in 2016, 12 of them for England, four for Yorkshire and seven for Sydney Thunder. He will not take part in the upcoming T20 tour of New Zealand and will be saved for the two-match Test series later in November. Youngster Tom Banton will play in the T20 series after some impressive form in the Vitality Blast for Somerset and Root admits he needs to improve before the younger generation moves in. “For me to get in it’ll mean I’ll have to keep improving and getting better. It will raise the bar for the team if that is the case,” Root said. “If someone like Tom Banton comes in and sets the world alight, and I’ve got to try and force him out in the limited opportunities that I get to play, it’s obviously going to raise the standard of English cricket in that format. “That’s the food chain that cricket is. You have to be at the top of it or else you get swept away and eaten up.”