Joe Root calls for increase in 50-over cricket if England are to thrive again

‘When you’re not playing the format, it’s hard to know who the best players are,’ says Joe Root. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

Joe Root has admitted English players no longer experience enough 50-over cricket either for their counties or their country to go into global tournaments with any realistic prospect of success.

England are bottom of the World Cup table after Afghanistan’s eight-wicket victory over Pakistan , having lost three of their opening four games. Root’s experience illustrates the fading focus on the format since they hosted and won the tournament in 2019.