Super Smash 2021-22: Auckland clinch victory against Wellington to get off the mark

James Anderson takes on Joe Root, calls out batters for not putting up decent runs in Adelaide

England’s veteran pacer and one of the greatest of all time - James Anderson has taken on captain Joe Root over his assessment of the defeat in the Adelaide Test. Contrasting Root’s claims about the bowlers not hitting correct lengths, Anderson has put the blame straight back on the batters for not putting enough runs on board. Arguing that it was one of the flattest Adelaide surfaces ever produced, Anderson in his column for the Telegraph pointed out that the English bowlers did create chances but they weren’t taken. “We did not bat well enough on a pitch where the data said it was one of the flattest Adelaide surfaces ever produced and the pink ball did the least it has ever done in a day-night game,” Anderson, 39, wrote in his column for the Telegraph. “From a bowlers’ point of view you want to be hitting the right lengths all the time. We did our best on the first two days to do that … Maybe we could have gone a touch fuller at times but we still created quite a few chances that were not taken.” Anderson insinuated that it was not very gentlemanly of Root to go after the bowlers at the end of the second Test and rather the entire group should have been asked to be more proactive. “We have to be better at assessing it during a game. We can’t just go after the game, ‘we should have bowled fuller’… We have to be a bit more proactive at that too as a whole group.” James Anderson has only played one Test match in the series where he picked up three wickets after toiling for 39 overs in two innings. He was benched for the first Test match at the Gabba despite not having any injuries. Coming into the series, Anderson had been vocal that he wanted to play all five Test matches in Australia, but the team management does not seem to be on board with that idea. England are suffering an injury crisis in the pace bowling department with Jofra Archer out of the series owing to an elbow surgery. His replacement Mark Wood is also facing fitness issues that have put questions on his availability for the Boxing Day Test. England have called up Saqib Mahmood for the final three Test matches of the series.

The Ashes | Joe Root confident that century drought will be broken in this series

England captain Joe Root has been Test cricket’s finest batsman in the calendar year. Having scored over 1600 runs this season Root is head over heels against the next best Rohit Sharma, who has 906 runs in 2021. Root has scored in all conditions this season, raking up runs in Sri Lanka, India and in his home conditions as well. However, despite scoring eight 50s in his 11 innings Down Under, Root is yet to score a hundred. Addressing the same in the press conference ahead of the MCG game, Root stated that he feels confident that a hundred is just around the corner. "I feel in a really good place with my batting. I'm playing nicely still. I'm confident I can bang out a hundred in these next three games. I know that's a brave thing to say but that conversion rate hasn't been an issue at all this year. I feel like I have an understanding of how I want to score my runs.” The England captain has scored two half centuries already in the two Test matches and he has argued that he knows exactly what to do to convert those starts into a big score. "It's about managing the conditions for me. If you look at three of the four dismissals I have had, they've been in that channel. It doesn't swing and it doesn't seam as much in these conditions, so you feel like you can hit the ball. You feel in control and that can lure you in. And that extra bit of bounce can bring the nick." Root has only found support from Dawid Malan in this Test match and barring the left hander, no one at the moment has put their hands up to get England to a commanding position in any of the matches. Jos Buttler played an unbelievable innings in the last Test match where he shielded England from a certain defeat for 207 balls. Root has been vocal about the batting issues of the team, but has not given any indication if there would be any changes made for the Boxing Day Test match.

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The Ashes | Not the level an England team should be playing at: Joe Root fumes ahead of 3rd Test

England captain Joe Root has warned his compatriots in the England national team that they should be operating at a much higher level if they want to stand a chance against Australia Down Under. Speaking in a pre-match press conference Root was seen fuming as he reiterated that the tourists cannot be ‘losing eight wickets for just 70 or 80 runs.’ "There was a lot of frustration. Purely because of the basic mistakes that we've been making. And we've done it twice in a row. We can't afford to be losing eight wickets for 70 or 80 runs. It is not good enough. It is not the level that an England Test team should be playing at," Root told reporters in Melbourne. England have been handed a heavy drubbing in the last two Test matches. Not only have they lost two out of the five games, but have lost them in a rather humiliating manner. Asked about his emotions after the Adelaide Test, Root confirmed that he was angry despite him trying to be at his pragmatic best "It did come easy to be angry at the end of the last game because of the situation we're in and the manner in which we lost. I'll always try to look at things with a level, pragmatic approach but I don't think you could after the way we've played those last two games. I expect a response from everyone this week.” England take on Australia in Melbourne for the third Test match of the series that starts on Boxing Day, 26 December. Australia will be reinforced with their captain Pat Cummins who returns after missing out on the last Test match. England have called up the likes of James Vince and Saqib Mahmood going into the final three Test matches of the series.