Fundamental flaws holding top order back

We can dissect everything else, but batting woes stand out and inspirational captain Root may just be part of the problem

Is this the beginning of the end? The final frontier for the current approach of the England men’s Test side, the summer that breaks an impressive home record and ignites a wholesale renovation? The odds are on an Indian series win, following New Zealand’s earlier in the summer.

As we feared at the series’ start, batting is costing England dear. We can talk about bowling plans, and execution, injuries and omissions, but England’s bowlers can do only so much. Were we in Australia, the scaffolding for an overarching review would already have been erected.

The anatomy of the top order will be picked apart. There are so many questions to answer; in many respects England’s batters are lucky to have a week off to find a dark corner before reappearing for Headingley. It is likely they will need more than miracles to salvage something.

Problem one is Joe Root. Bear with me here. To score an unbeaten 180 and end up on the losing side is a rare feat. Remove this pillar, the titanic, towering figure of 2021, and England hardly function as a side. Since Alastair Cook retired after the 2018 season, Root has contributed almost 18 per cent of England’s runs when he has played. Next best is Ben Stokes on 15 per cent, then Rory Burns with 12. Of late, Root’s returns have only accelerated further; England’s captain has scored more runs in this series than any other England batter has managed in all of 2021.

Root has found a way to focus on batting and batting alone, despite the myriad distractions vying for his attention. Unlock this piece of Root mentality, disperse it among his charges and England have a fighting chance. You can see smidgens of his mindset rubbing off on his teammates by the way they bat alongside him. Not only do England rely on the runs directly flowing from Root’s bat, they rely on his presence at the crease as well.

The highest England partnership not involving Root in this series so far is 42, 15th in the list of highest partnerships. Root, by contrast, features in seven of those above that 42. Dom Sibley, at all other times a stubborn clam stuck to his crease, was at ease rotating the strike when Root was alongside. Jonny Bairstow, a fiery one-day batter, channelled that energy into a more measured Test-match intent when partnering Root for 121 runs in the first innings. Burns, too, struck his highest score of the series alongside Root.

Towards the end of England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards’ career, there was a prevailing thought that, as she stood aloft, in her shadow no other England batter could grow. Her dominance had become part of the problem.

Root’s dominance has a slightly different effect: the closer a batter is to him, the more they are able to ride in his slipstream, yet anything done independently of the man is just shy of a catastrophe. England will only really know how much they rely on Root should he be removed. It would be an interesting experiment to make, with a strong Friedrich Nietzsche undercurrent to it (what doesn’t kill you, yada yada…). A step too far, perhaps, but the mental side of England’s batting approach sorely needs addressing.

Of course, there is more to it than that. England’s batters’ unconventional techniques, poor first-class records and increasing failures at home as well as abroad suggest as much, with Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed joining Sibley in cheap dismissals that continued their toporder woefulness. What exactly is it, therefore? Not all of England’s malaise can be attributed to whiteball cricket. India, after all, are a team built on the most prolific white-ball tournament of them all. Maybe, almost perversely, the answer lies in the Hundred, the enemy of the County Championship’s most vociferous proponents.

Because what has most certainly worked for India is strength in numbers. That they went to Australia in the winter, suffered enough injuries to merit a second-cum-third-string side and still prevailed, their batting the winning factor, demonstrates a depth England must aspire to.

Of England players throughout history who have batted for more than 20 innings, only two current internationals enter the top 60 career averages: Root (eighth) and Stokes (60th). If England want more to enter this group, perhaps free-toair television, a new demographic and who-cares-what-format on show is the slow rebuild that they need to find that depth. It might take a few years but, goodness, England at least need to find a place to start.