Root cannot afford distractions – he has his own problems

Bairstow controversy comes at an awful time as the captain struggles with his conversion rate Smith and Root are one and two in the world rankings but the gap between them is marked

In a simpler world Joe Root would have spent the night planning how to avoid lbw. This being the England cricket set-up in the Ben Stokes age, the captain instead watched a storm pass over the camp in Brisbane as reports claimed Jonny Bairstow had headbutted Australia’s Cameron Bancroft in a Perth bar four weeks ago.

Root could do without these distractions. In the absence of a complaint from Bancroft, police action or any media reporting of it at the time, Bairstow’s employers seem confident no offence was committed. But the suggestion that Bairstow’s head met that of Bancroft, in a laddish way, will raise more questions about how much time some of these England players are spending on the town, especially as they had just arrived in Australia when the incident in Perth occurred.

Expect this to run and run, in the context of Stokes’s exclusion. Some Australian media outlets will not be slow to cast England as enfants terrible, in a permissive regime. With the first Test at the Gabba taking a turn for the worse, the idea will gain traction that this tour is unravelling.

It may well not be, but perception is wildfire these days. All the leader wants to think about meanwhile is his batting.

Root’s conversion rate is heading the way of the pound against the major currencies. As the England captain falters post-50 with the bat, there is no escaping the comparison with his opposite number, Steve Smith, who owned the Gabba with his unbeaten 141.

Smith has the look of a leader graduating to greatness. With the bat, Root seems stuck halfway up the stairs to three-figure knocks. His talent, aura and academic obsession with the game landed him with the daunting task of captaining his country in an Ashes series in Australia, where Smith is in mighty form, as batsman and slip catcher. There have been times here when the first Test has felt like Steve Smith versus England, with help from Nathan Lyon and bursts of bouncers from the quicks.

Alongside this feeling that Smith is on a different level to the other 21 out there, Root has been smashed in the helmet by a vicious Mitchell Starc bouncer, praised for his inventive field placings, criticised for “defensive” tactics (by Smith) and dismissed for 15 and 51 – both times leg before wicket. The second of those walks back to the stand expressed a particular torment.

The fifth day of this Test coincides with the third anniversary of Phil Hughes’s death. Hughes was struck by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield game and died three days later in hospital. Mention is made of that tragedy to restate the risks faced by batsmen at this level. Helmet technology protected Root when he was hit by Starc. But his lid fell apart under the force of the blow, and the slow-motion compression images were chilling.

In his book, Root confessed to feeling overwhelmed on his first outing at the Gabba, four years ago. He talked of the noise, intensity and sporting pressure. Four summers on, he is secure in

English sport’s elite. Yet his predecessor, Alastair Cook, has lost his form, his match winner (Stokes) is 10,000 miles away and his top order are not hurting Australia with scores. Add to that the mopping up of England’s tail-enders by Starc in particular and you have work to do in Adelaide.

To return to action on Saturday, Root needed a check by a doctor as well as a new head protector. To come out again on Sunday morning, he was required to pass a concussion test: his second of the weekend. Enough there, to put a small doubt in anyone’s head, especially as Root also needed treatment for a stiff back during the morning drinks break.

His strategy was to copy Smith’s innings of the day before. Patience – and singles – for the long haul. Australia’s bowlers laid off the short stuff. Root stuck around with Mark Stoneman, Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali to reach 50. But then his conversion problem returned.

Smith and Root are one and two in the world rankings. But there is a gap within that gap. The Australia captain’s unbreakable first innings produced his 21st career Test century, which is only six behind Allan Border. For him 50 is a mere staging post. Smith scores a ton once every five innings. For Root, the halfway point tends to mark the beginning of the end. This year, he has been removed four times between 50 and 59. Across his career, he has been out 29 times between 51 and 90.

So Root’s mind will be spinning on the road to Adelaide. Beyond the swarm of captain’s thoughts (how to stiffen England’s tail, Cook’s quiet start), he will seek a solution to the vulnerability in his own batting, which no expert has yet explained. He must do so in the context of Smith’s invulnerability, which could decide this series.

With his sticky fingers behind the stumps, and conductor’s hands at the crease, Smith has set the standard for everyone in this contest. Root’s story last time he came here was all about the bad ending, when he was dropped for the Sydney Test.

On this second visit he arrived wearing the chains of office, and was expected to impose his authority from the start, in the bureaucracy of decision-making and with the bat, with Stokes back home in legal limbo.

There is still time, in Adelaide, but Smith has the jump on him.