England captain Joe Root has taken the blame for the beating handed down to Jack Leach from Australia’s batters in the opening Ashes Test., but stopped short of questioning his spot in the side.
Leach bowled just 13 overs in the Test match and was hit for 102 runs, with David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Player of the Match, Travis Head, dismantling him on Day 2.
The 30-year-old spinner was a controversial selection for the first Test, given he was picked over veteran seamer Stuart Broad, with many experts believing Broad should’ve gotten the nod on a green Gabba wicket.
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Following his side’s nine-wicket loss, Root pushed back on suggestions that Leach may have bowled himself out of the rest of the series.
“If anything, [Leach’s performance] probably falls on me,” Root said.
“I’ve probably given him too aggressive fields too early, not letting him settle in and giving him a bit more of a chance early on.
“Jack’s a fine spinner. He’s shown over the 20-odd Test matches that he’s played what an instrumental part he can play within this team, and I’m sure he’ll play a big part in this series moving forward.”
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When asked whether he had regrets over the playing XI chosen for the opener, Root explained the thinking behind the team make-up.
“It’s easy to look back in hindsight,” he said.
“One thing I will say is we wanted variation in our attack, we wanted to be able to change the pace of the game and to move through different gears throughout the innings.
“If we’re being honest, we can’t create as many chances as we did and put them down.
“We created so many chances, our bowlers were excellent, we beat the bat a huge amount of times, we banged the areas that you want to on this kind of wicket, we’ve just got to be better in the field. Similarly with the bat, 4-40 is not a position to start a Test series.
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“We know where we need to improve and where we need to get better, but I do think the way we responded in that second innings showed a great amount of character and fight, which we will need throughout the rest of this series.”
Root will hope to get his side back into the series when he and his charges take the field for the second Test at the Adelaide Oval on December 16.