Joe Root’s perpetual failures in Australia are under a searing microscope, while there are calls for a surprise spin call-up as the English media dissect their team’s fragile fortunes heading into a must-win second Test at the Gabba.
Having gone 1-0 down with a sensational eight-wicket defeat in Perth inside two days, the tourists are on the brink of Ashes oblivion.
Root is front and centre after failing dismally with the bat out west. He has now played 29 innings in Australia without a century — and just moved past India’s Dilip Vengsarkar as the batter to have played the most Test digs in Australia without a ton.
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“It is a damning statistic for a player of Root’s class but worse than that for England, Root has played more Tests in Australia than anyone else without winning a game. The Gabba this week will be his 16th match in Australia. So far he has drawn two and Perth was his 13th defeat,” Nick Hoult wrote for the Telegraph.
“Root is the main character in a dark story for English cricket of miserable times in Australia since the 2010-11 win. As England completed their innings victory in Sydney – their last win on Australian soil – Root was preparing to play in the Under-19s World Cup in New Zealand in a team captained by Azeem Rafiq that also included Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and James Vince (19 winless away Ashes Tests between them).
“Will it matter if Root does not score a century on this tour and England win? Not to him. What would be the value of a century in a defeat or draw if England lose the series? Not much to Root for sure considering the thorough team man that he is.”
Hoult delved into what Root might do to address his Aussie batting malaise, noting that the master bat had publicly declared that he would not alter his approach — before raising a distinctly anti-Bazball counterpoint, inspired by the only man who heads Root on the all-time Test runs list.
“There is a lesson from the past. Sachin Tendulkar did not play a single cover drive in his 241 not out in Sydney 21 years ago after going 13 innings without a hundred and the Australians dismissing him with balls outside off stump,” Hoult wrote.
“It was a flat Sydney pitch and the Kookaburra quickly lost its zip in those days but nonetheless, Tendulkar resisted his natural instinct for nearly 10 hours not to score on the off side. It would go against this England team’s philosophy for Root to play a similar game but maybe that is what is needed.”
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Joe Root ahead of his U19 World Cup appearance, and before this Ashes series.Source: Getty Images
Writing for The Times, Simon Wilde noted that England was facing an Australian side that has won 12 of the 13 pink ball Tests it has hosted, with a devastating record in Brisbane. He urged greater restraint from the batting line-up.
“As a grisly aside, Australia’s record at the “Gabbatoir” is one of the great home records in any sport, at any venue — in all Tests, 42 wins to set against only ten losses, and in Ashes Tests, 13 wins versus four losses. England’s last win was in 1986,” he wrote.
“Australia have established a well-defined path to victory in day-night Tests. They work very hard to control the very first innings of the game because this enables them to subsequently bat or bowl at the most favourable times.
“If England are to win this week, the message is simple. If they bat first they must go against their instincts for fast runs and bat well into the second day. If they bowl first, they must bowl out Australia in a day, allowing their early batsmen an opportunity during daylight hours.”
Also writing for The Times, former England captain Mike Atherton said that England could bring a spinner back into the line-up for Brisbane after an injury to paceman Mark Wood — though it should not be the spinner most would expect. He said that batting could — and should — be less kamikaze at the Gabba, bringing slow bowlers into play.
“If so then who should it be? Shoaib Bashir or Will Jacks? England tend to stay loyal and Bashir was in the 12 for Perth, but Jacks should come into consideration, as he offers insurance with both bat and ball. When West Indies inflicted Australia’s only defeat under lights, here at the Gabba in early 2024, Kevin Sinclair, an off-spinning all-rounder had a crucial role to play.
“He made an unbeaten half-century in the first innings, squeezed out some useful runs in the second and took one key wicket, that of Usman Khawaja when set. Jacks has played only two Tests and was a surprise inclusion for this Ashes tour, but he may well have been picked with this one match in mind. I would pick him over Bashir.
“All that said, the Perth collapse is a reminder that the first Test was lost by the batsmen and in that crazy hour after lunch on the second day. How quickly they have learnt their lessons from that game, and how quickly they can adapt to a pitch that is not dissimilar to Perth in pace and bounce, with the added complication of the pink ball, will determine England’s chances of bouncing back.”
Stokes willing to accept criticism | 01:48
Noisily in the background to England’s on-field woes has been a running battle with former greats such as Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott, whom captain Ben Stokes branded “has-beens”. Stokes apologised for the sledge, calling it “a slip of the tongue” and “completely wrong” — though Boycott, a strident critic of wild Bazball batting, has again fired back and pointed out England’s horror recent record in Australia.
“A piece of advice to Stokes about his has-beens remark when referring to ex-players,” Boycott told The Telegraph. “Ben is right that today’s cricket is different, but he forgets that cricket has always evolved.
“In 30 or 50 years’ time, there will be new innovations which, at the moment, we cannot envisage. But that doesn’t mean some things in the past are not still relevant today.
“That’s why people in Asia respect their elders for the knowledge they have gained and from that knowledge, they can give wise counsel to a discussion. If you are prepared to listen to the ex-players, there may be some things that the modern player can use in the modern format.
“You don’t have to agree with everything the past great players say but as Richie Benaud once said to me; ‘You can learn something every day’. Being stubborn can be a virtue, but if you are so intractable you never listen – and it is your way or the highway – then there is bound to be a fall.
“To call past players ‘has-beens’ was disrespectful especially as some of those ‘has-beens’ played in teams that won the Ashes in England and Australia. I’m glad that Ben has half apologised, saying it was a slip of the tongue, because none of this team have won the Ashes in Australia. Get the job done, because then you don’t need to say anything and you can bask in all the glory coming your way.”
Ben Stokes during a nets session at The Gabba.Source: Getty Images
England have enough problems with the growing sentiment in Australia that they are big on talk, short on achievement when it matters in Test cricket. Former England spinner Monty Panesar warned that Stokes’ team would never live it down if they copped a whitewash defeat — which will seem a distinct possibility if they again crash at the Gabba.
“Don’t end up like me and my teammates – being haunted by a 5-0 defeat for the rest of your life. No one will let you forget it!” Panesar, a 2013-14 Ashes tourist who fell 5-0, told BOYLE Sports.
“If you lose badly like we did, you feel like the whole country is against you. The cab driver, the restaurant waiters, they always remind you of things such as ‘do you remember when Adam Gilchrist hit you for four sixes in one over’. You think, ‘thanks for reminding me’.
“When you go to the restaurant, the restaurant manager will say, ‘Oh I have a table for you here Mr Panesar. By the way, I just want to remind you of Adam Gilchrist, he batted really well, didn’t he?’
“They keep on reminding you everywhere you go. I think that’s where Ben Stokes and his team have just got to be strong in terms of their character and say, this is what’s going to happen. The Australian public are well educated. All they talk about is The Ashes – they have designated radio programmes just talking about it and it’s every day.”
Yet Panesar also warned the Aussies that without the heroics of Mitchell Starc and Travis Head in Perth, they may well have lost — and were therefore not unbeatable in Brisbane.
“You take away their two performances and Australia are vulnerable. That’s what England have got to remember,” he said.
“England can take these guys down and Australia know that. When they start again in Brisbane, if England fire, they’ll beat Australia.”
