Century-less Root fires back at Aussie Ashes doubters

England superstar Joe Root has batted away criticism from Australian doubters as the Ashes banter heats up ahead of the first Test in Perth.

Root, the world's No.1 Test batsman, has a glaring gap in an otherwise glittering resume, having not scored a century in 14 matches in Australia.

He is no bunny Down Under - nine 50s and an average of 35.68 - but Darren Lehmann stated he needs to crack a ton in Australia to be ranked as an "all-time great."

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Greg Blewett had no place for Root in his all-time England XI for the same reason.

That is despite the 34-year-old being the second leading run-scorer in Test history, behind only Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) with 13,543 at an average of 51.29.

Root recently overtook Ricky Ponting (13378 at 51.85).

"They are going to say what they want to say anyway so why bother worrying about it," the former captain told England cricket media.

"It doesn't make a huge amount of difference. When we look back in five years' time no-one is going to remember what Matthew Hayden said to me, Greg Blewett, Mark Waugh, whoever it is.

"They are going to look back on the scoreline and think that is a historic England win or not."

Hayden has been one of Root's backers, going as far as to say he will "walk nude" around the MCG if he doesn't score a ton this summer.

The series begins on 21 November at Optus Stadium and Root concedes the external spotlight and pressure will be on him.

"Maybe it is," he said.

"But at the end of the day this tour is not about me. If I am scoring runs and scoring heavily it gives us a great opportunity to win a series out in Australia."

Root has not won a single Test in Australia with the hosts completely dominant in 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 series wins in 2013-14, 2017-18 and 2021-22 respectively.

The polite Yorkshireman is of course aware but remains unflappable.

"I go there in a completely different capacity to last time, different circumstances, a lot more experience now and I feel like I have a really good understanding of my game and how I want to manage it in the conditions," Root said.

"Clearly you have got to put that into practice and be good enough when it really counts, but I am really comfortable with where everything is at and looking forward to the opportunity and challenge that lies ahead.

"More than anything as a senior player it is about not just performing in terms of the runs but everything else that comes with it."

He agrees this ranks as England's best chance to win Down Under since he has been playing Test cricket.

Australia captain Pat Cummins is expected to miss at least the first Test as he tries to overcome a stress injury in his back. 

"It definitely does, if I am being brutally honest," Root said.

"The thing that I'm most excited about is going there with a completely different approach as a playing group.

"We're going to be able to hit them with something quite different in terms of our bowling attack, and the opportunity to potentially play three or four bowlers that bowl 90mph (145kph)-plus for a sustained period of time.

"It's not like we are going to go there with the same formula and expect different results. We are going to go there and try and do it a slightly different way, which is really exciting."