Joe Root must put his anger to good use and fire up the England Test team

Bok-lash | South Africa celebrate as Jimmy Anderson is last man out for England
Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Tom Collomosse18 July 2017

Joe Root is a fiery character out in the middle but is usually able to keep a lid on his temper once he leaves the cricket field.

During his early days as an international player, Root would enrage opponents with wisecracks delivered from the slip cordon.

Dismissals would be followed by an angry swish of the bat, especially when he had wasted the chance of a century. When speaking in public, though, Root was different - unflustered, measured, even a little dull.

It has taken two Tests as captain for the mask to slip. Fury flashed in Root’s eyes when he heard Michael Vaughan - his one-time idol, now adviser and friend - had accused England of lacking respect for Test cricket.

Vaughan believes England are interested only in attacking when they bat and that they lack the appetite for playing long innings. “I can’t believe he’s said that, to be honest,” Root replied. “That’s very unfair.”

If a remark from a former England captain can rile Root like this, you hope he feels the same way about some of his team-mates. Root called for calm after the 340-run demolition by South Africa at Trent Bridge, and with the Investec Series level at 1-1 with two to play, his team still have much to gain.

Root is one of the world’s best batsmen and that status alone invites respect. It is time to put his anger at Vaughan’s comments to good use. It is time to tell his colleagues exactly what he expects from them because Faf Du Plessis, South Africa’s highly impressive captain, appears to have worked many of them out.

“We know England are a very good team at trying to transfer pressure and playing shots but if they’re playing shots I will always feel we have a chance to take wickets,” he said.

“The conditions weren’t easy at Trent Bridge but that is a great time to knuckle down as a unit, make sure you are very resilient in your defence and technique, make sure you give nothing away. All our batsmen were brilliant in that respect. Test cricket is about that - when you can absorb pressure and take a bit of heat from the opposition, and then transfer pressure when you get a chance.”

Root could do a lot worse than repeat Du Plessis’s words to his team-mates. But how many of the current generation want to listen? Why did Moeen Ali admit on Sunday evening that while he would try to bat conservatively on Monday, he could not guarantee that he would do so? What must the seniors in the dressing room, Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, have thought of that? Moeen is a genuine, artless soul who was trying to make light of a tough situation but it was a silly thing to say. Imagine the reaction had Kevin Pietersen made similar comments during his time as an England player. Sure enough, Moeen lost his wicket in careless fashion.

Speaking in March, Root said he wanted to make England “a tough side to beat”. Do enough of his colleagues share his ambition?

The appointment of Trevor Bayliss, hugely successful in white-ball cricket, as coach in 2015 was a clear indication that limited-overs cricket now matters at least as much to the ECB as Tests.

What is Root supposed to think when his boss, ECB chief executive Tom Harrison, speaks about England’s “responsibility to play exciting cricket for future generations to connect with”? Do Root’s employers want his team to be successful, or would they prefer them to try to hit every ball for six?

Because, at the moment, “exciting cricket” is losing cricket: England have been defeated in seven of their last 10 Tests. To put that into perspective, Andy Flower’s stint as full-time Test coach brought only 11 defeats from 2009-13, prior to the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia that cost him his job. What about vice-captain Ben Stokes, who was given a £1.7million contract by Indian Premier League franchise Rising Pune Supergiants? Pune hired Stokes for his ability to hit the sixes and bowl magic deliveries.

That is what makes you rich these days, not the qualities discussed by Du Plessis.

England’s best-loved side of recent times, the 2005 Ashes winners led by Vaughan, evolved from Nasser Hussain’s pragmatic, underrated side of the early 2000s, who won in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The current group would do well to understand the link between the two.

There is no doubt Root knows the way forward. Are there enough people prepared to follow him?

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