Blame divides English camp

ENGLAND enter the third Test at war with themselves over who is to blame for their shambolic Ashes campaign.

Captain Joe Root has delivered two verbal uppercuts to vice-captain James Anderson as the tourists lurch through off-field dramas entering the WACA Test today.

Root’s first swing at his deputy came when he was asked whether Anderson, as one of the team’s key leaders, should have set a better example the night Ben Duckett poured a beer over him in Perth.

“Yeah, maybe a little bit,’’ Root said. “A lot of people have spoken and given their views. His focus now has to be about leading that bowling attack and doing the right things on the field.’’

Anderson, nicknamed “Teflon Jimmy’’ for his ability to escape off-field scrutiny, was also in the gun for his comments in his column for The Telegraph.

Anderson claimed England’s bowling length was too short on the first morning of the Adelaide Test, which he said was an oversight not simply from the players but also coaches who, he claimed, “could have had an input too, which is frustrating’’.

Root said players must take ultimate responsibility.

“I think it is probably slightly harsh to put the blame on the coaches,’’ Root said.

“That might not be the way he wanted that to come across but it did. Ultimately the guys on the field are the ones who are responsible for what we are doing out there. We have to be smarter and act quicker. I take responsibility for that as captain.

“We have to be thinking as a group and adapt. We have to learn from it and get it right.’’

The apparent tension among England’s hierarchy follows an observation from former Australian seamer Stuart Clark that Anderson and Stuart Broad showed a lack of respect for their captain by bowling “half rat power’’ in the first innings in Adelaide after Root surprisingly elected to bowl first.

IT IS PROBABLY SLIGHTLY HARSH TO PUT BLAME ON THE COACHES JOE ROOT

England have had a rugged week with coach Trevor Bayliss warning players they could be sent home if there are further disciplinary breaches.

Broad and Anderson will play their 100th Test together at the WACA. They may not quite be the forces they were a few years ago but remain canny performers.

England are likely to name an unchanged side, though Jonny Bairstow may be promoted from No.7 to six in the batting order with Moeen Ali dropping down a place.

The one certainty for England is that there will be no repeat of Root’s controversial call to bowl first in Adelaide on a WACA deck that looks likely to yield big totals.

Despite the WACA being famed for being a haven for fast bowlers, spinner Nathan Lyon has been a key man in England’s discussions.