England captain Joe Root defended his resolution to bat first within the opening Ashes Test towards Australia and stood by the picks of their bowling unit regardless of happening to a heavy nine-wicket defeat on the Gabba on Saturday.
Root received the toss on Wednesday and elected to bat in overcast circumstances on a green-tinged monitor, however that call backfired instantly with Rory Burns out first ball earlier than England have been skittled for 147.
“I think batting first was the right decision,” Root stated, declaring his Australia counterpart Pat Cummins had expressed an analogous intention on the toss.
“We just didn’t quite play well enough in that first innings. We get some sort of a score on the board, see how wicket starts to behave today, and we’re looking at very different contexts.”
With seasoned paceman James Anderson not risked as he managed a calf challenge, England had surprisingly opted to choose left-arm spinner Jack Leach forward of veteran seamer Stuart Broad however that call didn’t repay both.
Leach bled 102 runs in his 13 overs for the only real wicket of Marnus Labuschagne.
Root stated England had picked a spinner for variation and blamed himself for setting an excessively “aggressive” subject for the bowler.
“Probably more on my shoulders there and how I managed him rather than looking at the selection of how we went about things,” stated the England captain.
With the second Test in Adelaide looming subsequent week, Root stated it was too quickly to speak about picks.
“I think that’s something that we’ll look at once we get to Adelaide, once we know what the surface looks like and what the conditions are likely to present when we get there,” he added.
“But it’s nice to know that they (Broad and Anderson) should be fit and available and ready to go fresh for those conditions.”
Don’t write Stokes off
Ben Stokes, whose majestic unbeaten 135 at Headingley helped pull off an unbelievable chase within the 2019 Ashes, made a subdued return in his first aggressive match since July.
The 30-year-old managed scores of 5 and 14 and bowled solely 12 wicketless overs after jarring his knee within the match, however Root anticipated the talismanic all-rounder to make a much bigger contribution within the second Test.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll be fit for Adelaide and one thing, you write Ben Stokes off at your own peril,” stated Root. “He’d be desperate to get back into this series and have a big say in how it all turns out.”
England clawed their manner again into the competition driving a 162-run stand between Root (89) and Dawid Malan (82) earlier than the wheels got here off on the fourth morning.
The vacationers misplaced eight wickets, three of them earlier than the second new ball was taken, to stoop to a heavy defeat.
“It was frustrating. We obviously knew how important that first hour was in particular,” stated Root.
“It was actually essential that we received there unscathed and sadly, dropping these three wickets forward of that was bitterly disappointing as a result of we had put a number of good work in final night time.
“However, he stated the seeds of the defeat had been sown on day one.
“I look back at this morning with a little bit of disappointment but ultimately when you’re 40 for four in the first innings, it’s very difficult to get back into the game,” he added.
“And when you create as many chances as we did with the ball and not take them, it’s very difficult to look back at just this morning and think that that’s where the game was lost.”
