Looking deeper, Root’s problems in Australia have come almost exclusively against pace bowling.
He averages 74.33 against Australian spinners, even as his Ashes career coincides with a modern great in Australia, Nathan Lyon.
More specifically, Root’s problems have come when facing full or good length deliveries from pacers, against which his average falls to 26.9 and 26.2 respectively.
When the ball is short, even on fast surfaces, that average rises to 63.
The difference is marked.
The Ashes bogus war began in the summer when David Warner described Root’s front pad as a “surfboard”, suggesting he is an lbw candidate.
While it is true that Australia targeted Root’s pads at the start of the 2017-18 series and dismissed him that way twice, eight of Root’s 10 dismissals in the last series were for deliveries that would have failed.
Even in England in 2023, five of Root’s six dismissals to Australian pacers would not have threatened the woodwork.
Australian plans have changed, or at least Australia is using that inswinger on the pads more sparingly.
Of those 10 dismissals in 2021-22, seven were for balls bowled between 6 and 8 meters from the stumps, which is considered a “good” length, and nine for seaming.
It resulted in eight catches between the keeper and the gully, four of which were Root trying to address third man on either his front or back foot.
“They say in Australia horizontal swings of the bat are the way to go because if it bounces it will fly over the top,” says Vaughan.
“Those straight shots in Australia, back-foot hits, are fine after 30 or 40 overs, when the Kookaburra is a little softer and not flying off the surface, but in the first 10 or 15 overs, when you start playing these straight shots, there is a chance that it will bounce more than you expect.”
