Sporting Life columnist Ryan Sidebottom talks England Joe Root and Dancing On Ice

Well done Joe!

My roller coaster ride on Dancing On Ice enters its seventh week this weekend but I want to start by talking about my old Yorkshire captain and teammate Joe Root.

Many of you will have seen his on-field spat with Shannon Gabriel after the West Indian fast bowler asked him if he was gay with Joe's response being 'don't use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being gay".

I just want to say, well done Joe!

Our captain was saying exactly what the rest of us are thinking and I'm proud of him for doing that. Sledging has always been part of the game but Gabriel crossed the line and good on Joe for not standing for that nonsense.

Sport brings people together - colour, race, religion, sex, it doesn't matter one bit.

There is no place in sport for what Gabriel said, or any walk of life for that matter, and I think Joe hit the nail on the head.

Close Ashes series in prospect

After that incident I was pleased to see Joe let his bat do the talking with a wonderful hundred that helped set up a consolation win for England in a series where the West Indies were very impressive.

You have to say well done to them. They played really good cricket throughout the series and it was nice to see their strong pace attack perform so well.

They have a battery of pace bowers who swung the ball at 90mph and bowled with great control throughout the three Test matches.

If we're honest, England had no answers and it's a very exciting time for West Indies cricket after a few years where they haven't had the results they would want.

For England, it was obviously disappointing to lose after such good performances against India and Sri Lanka and looking ahead to the summer, you'd have to say that we could be in for a really close Ashes series.

Home conditions obviously suit England's bowling attack, and there is no doubt in my mind that the Australian batsman don't play the swinging ball well, but England have to scoring big runs more consistently.

There are some class players in that England dressing room but they are playing too many shots when old-fashioned Test match batting is required.

The West Indies showed us how to play in that regard and if England want to become the number one side in the world, they must put a higher price on their wicket.

The talent is there for them to do that but they need to be smart and selection plays a part in that, too.

I'd like to see a more balanced side where they pick their best six batsmen, the keeper at seven, and then the best four bowlers with Stokes there as the fifth bowling option.

It's as if they have been frightened of their own batting frailties for a while and have been packing the side with all-rounders for extra protection down the order. For me, that doesn't work.

Go back to basics, like they did in the last Test match, and bat Jonny Bairstow in the middle order or at number seven where he can be so destructive and where he has had so much success.

X-Factor Wood offers England something different

England did really well to finish the series with a win and I was absolutely thrilled to see Mark Wood back in the side and taking wickets.

Mark is a lovely lad, so down to earth, and he's the X-Factor cricketer who can offer England something different.

When he's on form, he can bowl over 90mph and while he won't always take five wickets and might go for a few runs, he'll always trouble batsman with his raw pace.

In different conditions, Sam Curran will come back into the mix with his left-arm angle but having Wood's extra pace gives England another option that they have missed for a while now.

Big weekend on the ice as competition hots up

My own pace has been held back by my torn groin in the last few weeks but I'm determined to keep pushing on and am really excited about performing on Dancing On Ice this weekend.

I'm thrilled to have made it to week seven, especially as the standard has been so strong this year, and me and Brandy are so grateful for all the support we have had from the public and the people on the show.

We've had an amazing time and although the injury has really held me back over the last few weeks, we're both determined to go out all guns blazing whenever that may be.

Everyone on the show has got niggles and although I've not been able to practice as much as I would have liked due to the injury, I'm used to playing through pain barrier from my cricket days and nothing is going to stop me from giving it everything this week.

Like I've said before, the standard is so, so strong at this stage with some really talented skaters and everyone is working incredibly hard.

It's been such a blast to be involved and hopefully there's a little bit of our story still to run. Fingers crossed, anyway.

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