Former Australian captains Ian Chappell and Mark Taylor have questioned the chemistry inside the England camp, speculating that a divide has developed between the leadership group and the bowlers.
Chappell said that coach Mark Silverwood is too ingrained in the make-up of the team.
“It’s a setup that doesn’t work. One of the reasons why Mark [Taylor] was a successful captain is because he took charge. When Bob Simpson was stepping forward to make the speech, Mark said, ‘No Bob, I’ll do this,'” he said on Nine’s Outside the Rope.
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“Now everybody knows Mark’s in charge. That’s what the captain’s got to be.
“It’s the only way the team can work. The captain runs the show, but that’s not to say he does it on his own, he does it with some help.”
Silverwood stunned fans yesterday when he said that he would have picked the exact same teams for the first two Tests if he had his time over again, despite both ending in heavy defeat.
Taylor said that despite analytics and larger staffs playing a more prominent role in decision-making than in yesterday, a strong leader was still needed out in the middle.
“The players of today, they’re different to my era and before. The like having people around them, they like extra information. They like people with computers around them telling them if their front foot is in the right position,” he said.
“No matter how much information you have, someone still needs to be the one to say, ‘Righto boys, this is what we’re going to do.’
“That’s got to come down to the captain. Cricket is a different game. You’re out there for five days, the coach and the gurus, they don’t change the field, they don’t tell you when the bowler’s going to bowl.
“They don’t say if you go for a spinner or a quick. That’s you. You’ve got to be the one to step up.”
Taylor said he understood Root’s frustrations, but that the time for action hadn’t come quickly enough.
“I think Joe is now trying to do it, but it’s been a bit late. He’s actually come out with a few statements since the last Test, about England not bowling well, I assume that’s being said behind the scenes because it needed to be, but I think he’s now had enough.
“There’s too much noise in and around the team, and I suspect there’s probably now a division in that team between the bowlers and Joe Root and Chris Silverwood, which is not a good thing.”
Chappell described the England captain as a rabbit in the headlights at times.
“It’s all down to Joe Root. Pat Cummins is the most inspirational player in the Australian side, you’ve got to have a captain that’s inspirational,” he said.
“I look at close ups of Joe Root’s face, and he’s a rabbit in the headlights. I don’t see anything in that face.
“Broad, Anderson, everyone’s clapping behind the wicket, I’d like to clap when the guy plays forward and misses, or edges, not when he goes like that [leaves a ball].
“That’s not great bowling. That’s when the captain needs to say, ‘Listen guys, you either bowl at the stumps or you’ll be out there at backward square leg.’
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