Joe Root has a problem ...Middle East

Day 1: Pakistan 133 all out (Shakeel 43; Tongue 4-42) trail England 156-4 (Gay 60, Brook 52*) by 23 runs

EDGBASTON — To be fair to Joe Root, the delivery from Razaullah Khan that pinned him leg before on day one of this third Test would have dismissed most batters in the world.

Nipping in off the pitch and hitting his front pad at 89 miles per hour, Root couldn’t do much about the ball that gave the 21-year-old Pakistan debutant his maiden Test wicket.

The only problem is that this was the eighth time this summer and the 10th time in his last 11 innings Root has been out LBW.

Perhaps the only bright spot is that the wicketkeeper wasn’t standing up this time – as had been the case in Root’s previous three dismissals in this series, all LBW.

Razaullah dismisses Joe Root for his first Test wicket! pic.twitter.com/WdKhIYb4gp

At the age of 35 and playing in his 169th Test match, there will be some who wonder whether his eyes or reactions are not what they once were.

Yet to underestimate England’s all-time leading runscorer would be a mistake.

Root’s issues are part technical and part of a wider trend that has seen way more LBWs this summer than usual – making up 23 per cent of all dismissals in Tests in England compared to 13 per cent between 2021 and 2025.

Ollie Robinson’s remarkable haul of 26 wickets at 7.96 for England this summer is testament to the fact that conditions have been heavily skewed towards seamers.

Robinson’s mastery of wobble seam – which makes him hugely effective at moving the ball back into batters – has been a huge contributing factor to his success.

But that is also part of a wider trend. Where once the first priority of batters was to protect the outside edge to minimise the risk of being caught in the slip cordon, the predominance of wobble seam has meant they need to be much more wary of being trapped on the crease. The new fashion of keepers standing up to the stumps has exacerbated the issue.

It’s within this context that Root’s current problems should be set. This is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that between August 2022 and the fourth Ashes Test at Melbourne last December he was out LBW to seam bowlers just three times in Test cricket.

It means the comment by David Warner before last winter’s Ashes about Root’s “surfboard on his front leg” was trash talk rather than based on actual fact.

Root himself knows there are technical tweaks he will need to make to counter the new threat. But he is in no mood to panic, as he made clear after the second Test against Pakistan at Lord’s.

“I’ve played this game a long time and I’ve always found ways of solving those problems and working it through,” he said. “There’s a reason why I’ve got 14,000 runs and why I’ve played the best part of 15 years at this level.

“Of course, it’s frustrating that there’s sort of a trend. There are probably four umpires’ calls within that, which could have gone the other way, and the ball is probably deviating more than it ever has.

“You try and be realistic and understand where everything’s at, but also be aware of what you need to do to keep improving and keep getting better. I’m pretty sure I’ll get through the other side. I’m not too concerned.”

Copying Harry Brook might be the answer

So what could he do to stop the rot? As ever, only he knows the actual solution given he knows his game better than anyone.

But it was interesting that Nasser Hussain and Mark Butcher, discussing potential solutions on Sky Sports, thought that a change of guard, from middle to off-stump, might work.

“The key is to try and get your front pad outside the line of off stump,” said Hussain.

“Now, we have not been fans of off-stump guard and outside off stump. Harry Brook’s done it, is that an option for Joe Root?”

This might take away scoring options for Root, particularly running the ball down to third man that has become a trademark.

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The truth is there are no definitive answers to this issue. Every batter is different and they all find different solutions to whatever problems they encounter during their careers.

As another England batting great Graham Gooch said last week to The Guardian of Root’s LBW issue: “He’ll find a way, that’s why he’s world class. Top players generally get out LBW or nick off. They don’t get bowled or caught in the ring and that sort of stuff. Joe falls into that category. So, you know, it’s causing him a little bit of an irritation, but that’s the life of a batter.”

Indeed, there’s nobody more qualified to solve this particular issue than the man chasing down Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 15,921 Test runs.

That’s why it’d be foolish to doubt him.

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