Joe Root stands by first Test decisions as England captain rues early collapse

GEORGE DOBELL: Root claimed it was essential England continued to make "brave" decisions around selection and tactics and "look to do things differently to previous tours"

Joe Root has defended his selection and toss decisions in the opening Test of the Ashes despite his England team succumbing to a nine-wicket defeat.

Root, the England captain, insisted he would make the same choices again and instead blamed England's profligate fielding and a weak first-innings effort with the bat for the result.

And he claimed it was essential England continued to make "brave" decisions around selection and tactics and "look to do things differently to previous tours."

England were bowled out for 147 in the first innings after Root chose to bat first on an unusually green-looking Brisbane surface and under overcast skies.

He reasoned that the pitch would become dented on that first day and that those dents would later result in variable bounce and lateral movement. But while there was evidence of that being the case, Australia's fourth-innings target of just 20 was never going to be enough to stretch them.

"I think batting first was the right decision," Root said. "If you look at how the wicket has unfolded, 40 for 4 makes it not look like it's the case and credit to Australia for exploiting those conditions. We were always behind the game after that first hour.

^{Joe Root leads his team from the field after defeat in the first Test (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)}

"But it [the wicket] did dink, it did quicken up and we showed that we could create chances on that second day. And as you saw today, it did start misbehaving a little bit more.

"If we had got even 250 in that first innings then the game looks very different altogether. So no, I look back at the toss and I think I would do the same thing. Speaking to [Australian captain] Pat [Cummins] he would have done the same thing as well. He would have batted first.

"We just didn't play well enough in the first innings. If we had got some sort of score on the board, we could have been looking at a very different contest. You saw how that wicket started to behave today.

"Managing the bounce on this wicket is something that we didn't do well enough. We nicked balls not because of lateral movement but on occasions but because of extra bounce. We played slightly away from ourselves. I don't think we quite managed that as well as we could have. You can leave the ball with the extra bit of bounce here."

"Sometimes you feel like you've played extremely well and make one mistake and you're on your way"

Root also defended the decision to omit James Anderson and Stuart Broad from the side. In the case of Anderson, it is clear the England camp were concerned he was not match fit and that, if he played, there was an increased chance he could sustain the sort of injury that ruled him out of the 2019 series after just four overs. Besides, despite Australia scoring 400 in their first innings, Root was full of praise for his seamers' performances.

"If you look at Jimmy's position coming into the game, it was a huge risk of playing," Root said. "You saw with the last Ashes series - he was not quite 100 per cent - and the impact [his injury] had on the rest of the series.

"In our own conditions, in particular, those two have been fantastic for such a period of time. Trying to balance that with trying to win this series is something we're trying to manage as best as we can. I wanted a balanced attack. I wanted to be able to change the momentum of the game and we went with the spinner. If we go about things exactly as we have on the last two tours, we're going to get the same results. We have to be brave, we have to look to do things differently to previous tours.

"One thing I would say is that you can't question the guys who were out there this week. Look at Mark Wood: 23 times he beat the bat. That's impressive. We're doing a lot of things right. Our seam attack in particular have created so many chances and given us an opportunity. We just weren't good enough to take them. As a fielding group you've got to make sure you take those chances when they come, just as Australia did to us. And I think that's the most important thing to draw from this game, rather than selection."

^{Root could not go on from the platform he laid with the bat on day three (Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images)}

While there were a few dropped chances towards the end of the Australia innings – Haseeb Hameed, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes all putting down catching opportunities – the more important errors came earlier.

David Warner was reprieved on 17, for example, when Ben Stokes was shown to have over-stepped in the delivery that bowled him, while Rory Burns put down a relatively straightforward slip chance when Warner had 48. Haseeb also missed a run-out opportunity. Warner went on to make 94.

Root also admitted disappointment at his side's batting on the fourth morning. Resuming with a chance of building a match-defining position, England instead lost eight wickets in the first session to hurtle towards defeat.

This was all the more frustrating, Root suggested, because the pitch had deteriorated to the point where a target of "even 170" could have stretched Australia.

"We obviously knew how important that first hour was," Root said. "We knew a new ball was due and it was going to nip around and bounce more.

"So it was really important that we got to that new ball unscathed. But unfortunately, losing those three wickets ahead of that was bitterly disappointing.

"We had put a lot of good work in last night. We built that big partnership and then it was really on me and Dawid [Malan] to make the most of that opportunity this morning. Sometimes you feel like you've played extremely well and make one mistake and you're on your way. Credit to Australia: they've taken every chance that's come their way. I can't say the same about us.

"So I look back at this morning with a little bit of disappointment. But ultimately, when you're 40 for 4 in the first innings, it's very difficult to get back into the game. It's very difficult to look back at this morning and think that that's where the game was lost."

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