Joe Root, an England batter, will play against Ireland in the first one-day international on Wednesday. He wants to get more practice before the World Cup.
Since England’s World Cup defense starts on October 5 in India, only Root from the World Cup team is playing against Ireland.
Root asked to be added to the team at his home ground, Headingley, because he wanted one more game to find the form he had been missing in the recent games against New Zealand.
He made 39 runs in four innings against the Black Caps, who will also play England in the opening game of the World Cup in Ahmedabad.
Root’s appearance is good news for Zak Crawley, who is captaining the white-ball team for the Ireland series while Jos Buttler rests.
“I really like being with Rooty. “Having him in the team as a batsman and former captain will help me and the team a lot,” he said.
“It’s great to see him. Even more so for me as captain, since I can count on him for things like that. I played under him for a long time, and when he was Test captain, I stood next to him at slip.
“I’m glad he’s on the team, and I’ll look to him. He has a lot of cricket knowledge and practice.
“Joe is the best because no one works harder than him. All of us try to be like him as much as possible. He’s someone we can all look up to and learn from. I hope it gives him what he needs too.”