Root reaps the reward of picking right team

WHAT a difference it has made for Joe Root to have a properly balanced side for this final Test match.

Forget the merits of the personnel chosen, it is the formation of the Xi that has proved so crucial to that. There are three frontline batsmen before you get to Root (below) at No 4 and there are three frontline seamers before you ask Ben Stokes to bowl.

This kind of line-up is much better for Stokes and that in turn is better for England. Having him in the proper role of all-rounder, as the fourth seamer, frees him up and allows him to focus more on his batting at No 6. The team reaped the rewards in the first innings.

England arrived in St Lucia with Stokes having bowled just four fewer deliveries in the series than James Anderson. His workload has been too much and that diminishes the impact of the talent that he is.

Unfortunately it has taken until the last game of the series to address it, and you have to question why we have seen Sam Curran selected in the bowling attack ahead of Stuart Broad and Mark Wood.

As a selector on tour, Root has to accept some of the responsibility for walking out in Barbados and Antigua with the wrong teams. Here, he has learned from his mistakes and walked out with the right one.

i understand why they were so tempted to play Curran, with the record and the impact he has already had in his fledgling international career, but history tells you in this part of the world you need height or extra pace — both of which he lacks.

England started the series trying to reinvent the wheel as far as selection goes. The change to a more traditional template has produced a more satisfactory look to the team.

Root was excellent as captain yesterday. i thought he got Wood on at exactly the right time. it was a clever move to go to him ahead of someone like Stokes because he is a nervy character, doesn’t want to be considered an after-thought and hadn’t played in the series.

i was looking for Root to stamp his authority on the team in this match and, after not making runs in the first innings, he did so. As a captain you are like an all-rounder and when one bit of your game is not going quite so well the other one has to kick in.

What i liked from ball one was the small stuff. i mentioned the other day that i wanted him to be firmer with his senior fast bowlers Anderson and Broad. Jimmy wanted his fine leg wider but on a pitch like this that is nibbling around, with a bit of pace, the edges and clips are going to go finer.

The first ball to Kraigg Brathwaite went straight to the fielder and if he hadn’t been where Root insisted it would have gone for four. yes, Anderson and Broad might get a little cross but the wins and losses go against Root’s career as a captain. He has to do things he feels are right, learn from his mistakes and get that feel for captaincy.

On a pitch on which the seamers held sway, he had a gut feeling to bring Moeen Ali on first change — arguably down to the fact that he had dismissed Brathwaite a couple of times in the series and had got John Campbell out sweeping.

So much is driven by stats and footage before a game but as a captain you must not just put in place pre-ordained plans. Bringing Moeen on was a brave thing on a seaming pitch when their spinner didn’t get any wickets.

Root might be going through his first lean patch as a Test batsman but he will feel better about himself because he made some good tactical decisions. And the right players on board to implement them.