Mistakes were made in selection as well as batting, bowling and fielding but Australia can be beaten if improvements are madeLast month Jack Leach was out for dinner in Brisbane with Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad when a local approached them. “Hey guys,” he said, “I just want to wish you the worst of luck at the Gabba.” So far, so tedious, but then the man added: “It’s going to be a green seamer.” This amused Leach, who was thinking: “I’m not sure that’s the best sledge to two of the greatest bowlers that England have ever had”. The joke was on that gloating Aussie, until it wasn’t – because the pitch was indeed a greentop, and England somehow omitted...
While Root has had a brilliant 2021 at the crease, his teammates have let him down but Malan has come good at the right timeAnd on the third day, some hope. The game changed as that 159-run partnership between Joe Root and Dawid Malan stretched on through the afternoon, the miseries for England of the first two innings receded, replaced by the promise of a better contest ahead. Root’s 86 was a vital sign that his duck in the first innings was an aberration, while Malan’s 80 was, in a way, even more important. England won’t win anything if Root doesn’t score runs, but the truth is, they don’t necessarily win much when he does, either. He peeled off a...
England’s Test captain has done a lot of good over the past few years on and off the pitch but he has been evasive over the Yorkshire CCC racism scandal“I think … when I look back … I can’t …”Imagine being Joe Root right now. For the past two summers you’ve engaged sincerely with the need to broaden your sport. You’ve taken the knee. You’ve stood for the cameras in a T-shirt covered in uplifting slogans. You’ve engaged with issues beyond the remit of any previous England captain. You’ve spoken proudly of the diversity in your team, in a way that does make a difference, and not only to the optics-panic of your employers at the ECB. Continue reading...
The put-upon captain might have faded away in his fifth year in the job but instead he has played some of his greatest inningsIf you wanted, you could still probably pick a few holes. He edged a few through the slips. He got bogged down a little in the 90s, and then again in the 150s. He didn’t hit a single six. Does an innings even still count these days if it isn’t accompanied by a big flashing bar along the bottom of the screen screaming “OH YEAH”? Most unforgivably of all, Joe Root’s unbeaten 180 against India lasted almost nine hours. Good luck fitting that into BBC Two’s teatime schedule. Related: Masterful Joe Root hauls England back into contention...
While India’s Virat Kohli talked up the contribution of his newer players, Joe Root admitted his charges have a way to go yetThere was a weary inevitability about the last day of the series. England 10 for one, 10 for two, 20 for three, 30 for four, the wickets dropping like tired eyelids, loss washing over them like sleep falling on an exhausted man.It leaves their winter split neatly in two: three handsome victories – two in Sri Lanka by seven wickets and then six wickets, and one in India by 227 runs – followed by three ugly defeats by, respectively, 317 runs, 10 wickets, and an innings and 25 runs. Related: England fall apart again as spinners wrap up...