It’s not often that a batsman with an average just below 50 comes under the hammer.
It’s also not often it happens that a man, despite crafting vital knocks, looks adrift in ability as compared to his rivals. However, Joe Root takes centre stage as England wilted in the face of reclaiming the Ashes from their arch-rivals.
But the thing of it is, the sparkling touch Steve Smith has been in starting from Edgbaston has further piled the pressure on Root. The English skipper began his Ashes on a positive note, striking a half-century.
Sure, another non-conversion of his 50 to three figures formed the part of a deep-rooted debate. Nonetheless, his colleagues lent their support that masked his failure to convert his knock into a daddy hundred.
And the debate and the criticisms were going to get more intense after getting castled by a snorter from Pat Cummins at the Old Trafford in the second innings. Prior to the golden duck at Manchester, Root sustained a couple more in the series. He had been found out.
And having been figured out wasn’t an option for England. Thrice the right-hander became the victim of deliveries that moved away off the seam with the new ball.
Joe Root’s men didn’t have a colossus named Steve Smith in their ranks to perform rescue acts almost all the time. Their version of Steve Smith was the captain himself. Not that Root’s constant inability to convert his 50s into an enormous score is forgivable, but the rest of the batsmen are equally to blame for sacrificing the Ashes.
Root, the tactician, hasn’t been fruitful enough either. Indeed, Smith’s masterclass has given sleepless nights to the Root-led England since the Ashes in Australia. They seldom had a chance to celebrate his dismissal like they have got him out without Smith throwing his scalp away.
And against a batsman like Smith, the half-chances are all you get sometimes. Dropped catches and reprive of a no-ball – Smith will make you pay. The captain’s decision to go defensive post-tea on day four further let the baggy greens get a grip on the Test.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Selecting Craig Overton over Chris Woakes didn’t make things any better for them either. That Root over bowled his new-ball bowlers and underutilized another magician with the red cherry was baffling.
Yes, Overton delayed kept delaying the inevitable and gave the fans a tinge of hope. However, his medium-pace on a usually quick Old Trafford deck since the first day isn’t something England had been hoping for.
The urn is returning down under but does even a win at the Oval guarantee Root’s continuation as the captain? It’s hard being Joe Root at this point.
The technical flaws of their batsmen, combined by poor selection and focus of more on white-ball cricket have left England to trigger an overhaul. Harsh calls would follow. They need the rectification of the system in the course of activating changes.
Amid all this, Root still remains their most reliable batsman, if not the most obvious choice to continue as the skipper.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
For a guy to be averaging solidly in the 50’s before being made captain then somewhere in the 20’s or at best early 30’s since is a clear reason alone to take it off him. The claimed catch and subsequent third umpire howler and send off was really poor. The mopey look in the field when the chips are down whilst so,done like Stokes breaks his back to get the side back into a test then to do it with the bat is someone England can get behind. A Stokes led England is straight away a more formidable outfit if it also doesn’t effect his recent form.
Cigar Field Sobers
Roar Rookie
I have always thought Root to be good value, his hard work and resilience have stood him in good stead for a number of years and he attended the Academy in Adelaide aged 19 to help develop the tenacity required at the top level. I have continued to be impressed with his calm under fire, until his woeful effort in the second Ashes test when he claimed a catch off Labuschagne that clearly bounced, gave the batsman an unnecessary sendoff and then proclaimed innocence and sincerity. Well that did it for me, and I have wiped him totally, so to see him get drilled in the box and then a golden duck in the fourth test, compounded by the misery of seeing him glumly watch as England was rolled, gave me heart that there is still some form of karma around. Cheers, Joe…. :thumbup:
U
Roar Rookie
Poor Ellen! He has to be relieved of the captaincy for his own good. His batting form will come back
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Hi Smudge. Root - and the ECB - are in a tricky situation. His batting returns have been diminishing for some time now and it's perhaps no coincidence that that coincides with taking on the captaincy. Perhaps being captain doesn't necessarily imply an impact on batting performance per se, but the added weight/responsibility of having to captain a side that isn't performing as a winning unit regularly - and that has been the case for England for a large chunk of Root's captaincy reign - must surely be distracting from a pure focus on batting preparation and execution. It may well be time for the ECB to step in and protect it's most valuable batting asset and transition the captaincy, but they're caught between a rock and a hard place, because who could do it? The traditional England approach of selecting a captain then building a side around him is no longer appropriate in the modern game. Their captain has to be a contributor and hold his place in the team on performance alone. They're in a tricky situation. If Root continues to have poor performances away against NZ and SA, they are going to have to do something. This series, as you say, amplifies the issues with Root given Smith's performance (his contemporary in what is - or *was* - the fab four). These are Root's home conditions. What he grew up on and cut his teeth on at FC and Test level. For Smith, is this the first time he has played red ball cricket in England in four years?