Questions mount over Root captaincy

In two years’ time England will play the opening test of the next Ashes series at the Gabba in Brisbane. It is a moot question who their captain will be.

Joe Root has publicly expressed his wish to be test captain for the next tour of Australia as he was for the last. But no England captain has led a full Ashes tour of Australia twice; and the present, as well as the past, is telling against Root’s ambition.

England were defeated by New Zealand by an innings and 65 runs in a match at Mt Maunganui which he himself had said would mark a new era, with a new template of England patiently constructing totals above 400.

Yet it turned into the same old story – the only huge total being the one conceded by England’s bowlers – and their captain led from the front only in being guilty of the softest dismissals.

‘‘Clearly, some of the shots were not good, were they?’’ Root said. ‘‘Everyone’s very aware of that. I can’t fault the effort but I hold my hand up as well.’’

Root and his counterpart, Kane Williamson, are so similar – so decent and considerate as men, so orthodox as batsmen – yet are contrasts in one vital respect. Williamson knows how to make the most of himself and his team, Root does not.

This first test was Root’s least productive as captain in terms of runs, 13 of them, but more importantly got himself out on both occasions with two of the limpest steers ever played. The second time Root gave his wicket away, when guiding a short wide ball to gully , he ‘‘treated it with too much respect’’ he said.

Others would say Root should have treated the ball with disdain, and not played it at all, as England were never going to knock off the deficit of 262 at the scoring rate they were going; and, given that blocking was the team’s strategy, rightly or wrongly, neither he nor anyone else in the England side should have tried a cross-batted shot on a pitch of uneven bounce.

Root’s test average when England’s captain has gone below

40 for the first time, but there is a strong case for dating his decline in productivity – to the point where he can no longer be bracketed with Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Williamson – to a time before he succeeded Alastair Cook in early 2018.

At Old Trafford, on a relatively quick pitch against Pakistan in

2016, batting at No 3, Root unfurled his masterpiece of 254, using three basic shots – very much like BJ Watling in his 205 which made him the player of the match.

Since then, Root’s shot selection has become more ambitious or, in this latest match, confused. His test average has declined from 56 to 47.

Since his apogee at Old Trafford, he has been averaging less than 40, whether captain or not. His pursuit of Twenty20, and his desire to evolve as a hitter as the format evolves, seem to be – so to speak– the root cause.

Root, himself, asserted the captaincy was not affecting his batting and added: ‘‘I’ve had a bit of a rough time of it in terms of scores. I’m working extremely hard on it and sometimes it doesn’t always come that easy to you.’’ Daily Telegraph