ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM
Gower: Captaincy weighing heavily on Joe
DAVID GOWER called Steve Smith ‘The Amazing Dancing Bear’ when he first broke into the Australian team.
But it was England skipper Joe Root who resembled a cat on a hot tin roof for the majority of the Ashes.
The comparison between Australia’s best batsman and the man widely recognised as England’s top player was stark this summer.
Smith scored 774 runs at an average of 110 in just four Tests.
The England captain, meanwhile, hit 325 runs at an average of just 32 and played one more match than the Aussies’ returning hero (below).
Gower knows better than most just how heavily the captaincy can weigh on a player’s shoulders. He captained England in two separate spells, winning just five of his 32 Tests.
His last series as captain ended with a 4-0 Ashes hiding that kicked off almost two decades of Australian dominance over England.
Root’s record is far better than that.
But the re remains a nagging feeling that leading the side is having a negative impact on his record at the crease.
“When things go badly, captaincy can weigh more heavily on your mind,” said Gower (above).
“If things aren’t going your way, then it can make things harder, for sure, because you’re as worried about everyone else as you are about yourself.
“Over a longer period, class will tell. What Joe is most upset about is the number of chances he has had to turn 50s into 100s. The number of times he has done that will be annoying him.
“Smith has been incredible in this series. He has found a way of playing and a way of scoring runs that works for him and works for Australia.
“He has been head and shoulders above the rest on both sides this summer.
“And, once he’s in, you know you’re in for a very long slog because he is very, very hard to get out.” England found that to their cost this summer, with the former captain proving a thorn in their side each time he came to the crease.
Root, meanwhile, got plenty of starts but never threatened to kick on.
In 68 Tests, Smith has now scored 26 hundreds.
That tally puts him just seven behind the 33 centuries that Alastair Cook compiled in his career – and Smith has played 93 fewer Tests. Root’s century total remains stubbornly stuck at 16 in 86 matches.
He has just one – against the West Indies back in February – from his past 20 innings.
If England are going to make to the final of the first World Test Championship and regain the Ashes Down Under in 2021/22, that is clearly going to have to change.
“I don’t think there has been a gulf between the two teams this summer,” added Gower. “But Australia have been the better team. We have had our chances, particularly in the first Test before Steve Smith obliterated them.
“There are batsmen (in this England team) who aren’t up to Test cricket and there are people who haven’t been playing at their best.”
And that, ultimately, is why the Aussies and their amazing dancing bear flew home with the urn.
David Gower is touring UK theatres this autumn with On The Front Foot. Tickets: www.david-gower.com