Former England Test captain Joe Root believes they should not have toured Australia for the Ashes 2021-22, which were held under COVID-19 tight restrictions. England received a royal spanking in the five-match series, with Australia winning 4-0.

Root, who was the England captain then, ideated that it wasn’t the right call to fly to Australia with the players having to follow the strict rules that required players to spend 14 days in quarantine after arriving in the country.

The players were also kept in a bio-secure environment, with no outside interaction other than teammates, support staff, and match officials. It was intended to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.

“Thinking of COVID, it was about keeping the lights on last time we went. Arguably we shouldn’t have gone last time, should we, in retrospect? We did what we thought was the right thing at the time. We’ll be in a completely different place going into next time,” Root was quoted by Fox Sports.

Root is the latest to claim that COVID procedures played a factor in England's horror show in Australia. Former fast bowler Stuart Broad stated last year that he does not consider the 201-22 tour to be a 'real Ashes' and views it as an 'empty series'.

“Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series. But in my mind, I don’t class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is an elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game. Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the COVID restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialize. I’ve written it off as a void series,” Broad wrote in Daily Mail.

Australia toured England last year for the Ashes which ended in a 2-2 draw as Pat Cummins-led tourists retained the urn.

The next Ashes series will be held in 2025-26 in Australia.