HELL ON PERTH
Skipper admits his poor form was the Root cause of dismal failure
JOE ROOT admitted his own failings in England’s Ashes downfall as Australia regained the urn at the earliest opportunity again. Root (left) put himself into the same bracket as Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad as a group of senior players who collectively went missing when they were needed most.
When Australia looked to Steve Smith he delivered, when they looked to Mitchell Starc he delivered and when they looked to Nathan Lyon he too delivered in the biggest series of all. England instead were left to look to the newer faces of Dawid Malan (right), Mark Stoneman and Craig Overton for inspiration in a series in which they were second-best in all departments.
“It’s bitterly disappointing,” said Root. “As captain you take a lot of responsibility. We have got a bit of time to get right for Melbourne and make sure our minds are fully on putting in a really strong performance and coming back from this.
“It is frustrating because you want guys like me with a bit more experience to contribute, and unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do that.
“Probably the biggest thing to my detriment is trying too hard. I’ve been desperate for us to win this series.
“A lot of time and effort has gone into it as a group and me personally, but we’ve not been good enough for long enough.”
Root will want to ensure his team doesn’t fall into the same whitewash vortex that swallowed up the 2006/07 and 2013/14 tours but there are longer-term implications for his side. The positions of senior players such as Cook and Broad will come into sharp focus.
And it would come as no surprise if one or other of them were to call time on their career this winter. There is a natural hunger to the younger players who have yet to experience a win in Australia or in India, and who still have so much to achieve, but the reserves seem to be running low for those who already have.
But Root revealed he hopes the senior players will continue to the end of this series and for some time to come yet.
“I’d like to think so,” he added. “They have a huge amount of experience and they do offer a lot to this group. I see no reason why throughout the rest of this series they can’t do that again.
“Credit to the young guys who were under a lot of pressure and with a lot of questions asked about them going into this.”