England captain Joe Root: I must stick to my plan to get Steve Smith out in Ashes clash

Will Macpherson13 August 2019

Joe Root has called on England’s attack to be ruthless when bowling to Steve Smith and says he must be more patient as captain against the Australian batsman when the Second Ashes Test begins at Lord's tomorrow.

Smith scored centuries in each innings to drag Australia to a remarkable victory at Edgbaston, hauling them from 122 for eight on day one and 90 behind on first innings to a 251-run victory.

England were pondering up to three changes to the team that lost the First Test. Jofra Archer will make his debut in place of the injured James Anderson, while Sam Curran appears likely to play. He could come straight in for the dropped Moeen Ali in a five-man seam attack, or for batsman Joe Denly in a reshuffled team, structure that would see Jack Leach replace Moeen.

Root usually names his team on the eve of a Test, but the forecast inclement weather made that less probable, with conditions likely to change before the toss.

Australia were poised to make a change too, with Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood set to come in, ­possibly for James Pattinson. That is a reminder of the embarrassment of riches they have in the pace department: Starc has 211 Test wickets at 28, and Hazlewood 164 at 27.

Ashes 2019: England's squad for the third Test

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Smith is England’s greatest headache, however, and Root said: “You are always looking at different ways to get someone out.

“Maybe one thing we could have done slightly better, me personally as captain, was maybe stick to a plan for a little longer, give it a chance to work a little bit more. But he played well. I think it was 18 times early on he played and missed and we were very much in the game, and it could have been different. In some ways that’s a sign plans are working, we just have to be a little bit more patient with it.

“He has to start again this week. It’s a new challenge and wicket, a different atmosphere. It’s important that we are very confident in whatever we decide to go with that it’s going to work, back our ability to execute it.

Root says England must avoid being distracted by Smith’s quirky technique, which has brought him six centuries in his last seven Ashes Tests, either side of a 12-month ban for his part in the ball-tampering saga.

“We have to look past [his quirks]. I think a lot of what he does is to try to put you off, to make it look extremely different, so you have to think outside the box. Look at his dismissals over a period of time, it’s not far away from everyone else’s. It’s being really clear about how we want to go about it, when we go to a plan to be really ruthless with it, make sure if we are not getting him out we are containing and building pressure at the other end.”

Root’s captaincy is receiving some examination Down Under. Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell believes he “would be getting the boot” if he was Australian.

“Root hasn’t got a great feel for the game,” Chappell said. “Everybody makes a mistake as captain, but it’s how quickly you rectify that mistake that can decide whether you’re a good captain or an ordinary one. If Root was captaining Australia, there’s a fair chance Joe would be getting the boot if there was a decent alternative, but England would never have the guts to do that.”

Anderson was at training again today, but his earliest return date from his calf injury would be next month’s Fourth Test at Old Trafford.

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