Joe Root played one of the great Test innings, yet it was the secondary performance of the day by an England cricketer, which might explain why the home side have the upper hand after the first day’s play at Trent Bridge.
Root purred. It is not sacrilegious to suggest that there were echoes of Ted Dexter in his batting. Sometimes he would stand on tiptoe and demonstrate the back-foot drive with a perfectly vertical bat, the sort of stroke often present in the coaching manuals of the 60s and 70s (possibly augmented by a grainy photo of Lord Ted) but seldom seen on a cricket field. The stroke is too difficult for most.
There were other masterful shots. He cover drove deftly without a hint of violence, just exquisite timing. He offered a variety of cuts, some forceful, some delayed so that they would speed past the left hand of backward point; there were flicks off the toes, along with controlled pull shots and, just occasionally, as a reminder of his heritage, he offered a forward defensive.
Root has been a Test cricketer for a little over two and a half years and his evolution has been astonishingly rapid, even in an era where the way the game is played seems to be changing by the month. In 2012 Root offered traditional Yorkshire virtues. His technique was sound; he sold his wicket dearly; he was uncannily reminiscent of Mike Atherton. In his first game in Nagpur he delivered the perfect, slow, match-saving innings at a time when a draw was still a feasible option in Test cricket.
Thereafter Root developed as a Test player in fits and starts before experiencing the ultimate trigger to success for gifted cricketers: he was dropped. Omitted from the Sydney Test of 2014, he was hurt and jolted. He vowed that he would never allow this to happen again. Being dropped can be such a brilliant catalyst for a cricketer – though this realisation generally comes only with retirement.
However, Root’s reaction to being omitted has been unusual. Hatches have not been battened down, which was once the Yorkshire way. Instead there has been a wondrous determination to explore the limits of his talent and he has discovered that those limits take some reaching. He can prosper in Test cricket batting more like a Dexter than an Atherton. Both are fine models but this is a discovery that excites onlookers today. At Trent Bridge Root was not so interested in consolidation as conquest. He was magnificent, providing a glorious sequel to Stuart Broad’s astonishing, solitary spell, which enabled England to experience a glimpse of cricketing utopia.
Root also delivered an innings to cheer the groundsman, Steve Birks. Yes, it was possible to bat on this surface, but it was probably best to undertake that task in the afternoon, which explains how Alastair Cook had rather a good day as well.
Mike Denness, Bob Willis, Nasser Hussain and Ricky Ponting, eat your heart out. These four captains famously won the toss and opted to bowl before ending with egg splattered over their faces after epic Ashes defeats at Edgbaston 1975 (lost by an innings and 85 runs), Adelaide 1982 (lost by eight wickets), Brisbane 2002 (lost by 384 runs) and Edgbaston 2005 (lost by two runs).
Here Cook put paid to the old nonsense that on winning the toss you bat nine times out of 10 and on the 10th time, when you have been contemplating bowling, you bat anyway. Nonetheless there may have been a scintilla of doubt when he made his decision. There always is when the scrutiny is so intense.
It made sense at the time but there were four factors that made the decision pay a stunning dividend: the cloud cover over Trent Bridge remained throughout the morning session; Cook’s bowlers responded appropriately, pitching the ball to a full length; the slip cordon grabbed anything flying in their direction; the Australians were still tainted by their Edgbaston experience.
After that astonishing procession of Australian batsmen, it must have been tricky even for the most phlegmatic of men to remain on an even keel. But Cook managed it. He delivered the most mundane of knocks amid the mayhem. For a batsman like Cook 43 is a disappointment. But his was a proper Test match innings, the first of the day, and it was ended by a fine delivery. In fact, England’s first three dismissed batsmen all fell to excellent deliveries from Mitchell Starc, two yorkers and a perfect away-swinger, an observation that does not apply to all the Australian upper order. Batsmen prefer to be dismissed by good balls; it saves those heart-rending one to ones with the coach.
The rest of England’s batting was done by Yorkshiremen. Adam Lyth is still kicking. By any standards 14 is a failure yet on this freakish day it was more than any Australian managed (Sundries do not count, mate). Lyth looked composed enough but there is a danger that his career may bear an uncanny resemblance to that of Ian Ward, who surfaced as a Test player in 2001 after a prolific run for Surrey before being dropped after an Ashes Test in Nottingham. Lyth has the advantage of playing in a side that is winning more games than it is losing. And he may not bat again in this match.
Jonny Bairstow enchanted. Sometimes he will exasperate but if he survives for half an hour the runs come fast and the game changes. He has the happy knack of hitting good balls for four. Bowlers don’t like that. If England wish to continue with an aggressive game – and why should they not? – Bairstow at five, with the freedom to play his natural game, is an exciting presence in the batting line-up. But he is not the dominant one. That accolade belongs to Root, who was still gracefully hammering another nail into Australia’s Ashes aspirations when stumps were drawn.
