Root reflects on drought-breaking Ashes triumph in Australia

By Jonathan Healy, at the MCG

England great Joe Root has praised the resilience of his side after they broke a drought of more than 14 years and won a Test match in Australia for the first time since 2011.

Root has failed to be on the winning side in three previous tours Down Under, but the No.1 ranked Test batter in the world finally broke his own drought when England chased down 175 for victory in an action-packed Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Saturday.

There was a sense of relief for Root when the winning runs were scored on the MCG and the veteran England batter praised the character of his side for showing some fight despite having already relinquished the chance of regaining the prized Ashes urn.

"Obviously to lose the series is obviously very disappointing but I think it was really important that we showed a lot of character for the rest of the series and I think it's been a lot thrown at this team and the way that we responded throughout these two days has been excellent," Root told host broadcaster Fox Sports after the four-wicket triumph.

"Clearly it was a very fast forward Test match with the surface that we were presented with, but I think we adapted to it as much as we could and exploited it when we had the opportunities.

"We showed a bit of bravery today in the way that we approached things with the back and it's why we won the Test match."

Root fell for a 15-ball duck in England's first innings and managed just 15 during the run chase as the visitors begun to show some nerves with the victory target in sight.

England captain Ben Stokes was dismissed shortly after Root to give the Aussies a sniff, but young gun Harry Brook and keeper-batter Jamie Smith steadied the show to guide the tourists home.

"You never expect them (Australia) to (make it easy)," Root said.

"Like I said, I've been on the wrong side of the result a lot here so you know what to expect, you know how good Australia are in their own conditions but the fact that we managed to get across the line today is excellent and hopefully we can improve on this week next week as well."

Ashes schedule:

First Test: Perth Stadium, November 21-22 (Australia won by eight wickets)
Second Test: Gabba, December 4-7 (Australia won by eight wickets)
Third Test: Adelaide Oval, December 17-21 (Australia won by 82 runs)
Fourth Test: MCG, December 26-30 (England won by four wickets)
Fifth Test: SCG, January 4-8