Two new captains will face each other at Lord’s, but while Dean Elgar is just a stand-in, for Joe Root it is the beginning of his era of English cricket
George Dobell at Lord's05-Jul-2017So, Gary Ballance is England’s No. 3 and Liam Dawson has been promoted to be the No. 1 spinner. For a man criticised for some conservative selections in his first Test squad, these are bold decisions from Joe Root. The decisions of a man who knows what he wants and has the confidence to argue for them. It is not thought there was complete consensus over the Ballance decision, in particular.There’s a certain irony in Ballance winning a recall at Lord’s. It was after the Lord’s Test in 2015 that he was dropped; a decision that hit him hard and led to a period of introspection that eroded his confidence and resulted in the somewhat nervy batsman we saw for much of the subsequent 18 months.But if the selectors lacked confidence in him then, they have shown it in him now. And he owes his recall, above all, to the faith shown in him by his old flat-mate and new captain, Root.Ballance probably was a little unfortunate to be dropped in 2015. He had a poor Ashes Test at Lord’s in July, for sure, making 23 and 14, but he was not alone there. He had also made 61 in the first innings of the Cardiff Test and added 153 with Root to help their side recover from 43 for 3. In the context of the series, that was a vital partnership. It was less than three months since he had become the third-fastest England batsman in history to record 1,000 Test runs, too.But he was probably recalled too quickly, as well. He made one eye-catching century at Scarborough against Middlesex in July 2016 and found himself back in the Test side before his confidence had returned or he had settled back into a method that he truly trusted against top-quality bowling. His subsequent struggles in Bangladesh, albeit in tough conditions, saw him dropped again. Possibly permanently.But Root’s confidence in him has seen to an early recall. And he currently looks in terrific form. He is averaging 98.55 for Yorkshire this season and, while his technique – with little foot movement – will never be to everyone’s taste, it is not so unlike Marcus Trescothick’s. He has, he says, not changed – despite advice to do so – but rather reasoned that he is better to stick to what he does – and do it better.It’s not hard to see why Root likes Ballance. He is low-maintenance, good-humoured and managed to show – on the surface at least – an upbeat demeanour on the India tour when he must have been going through some turmoil under the surface. He also has a wonderful first-class record – he averages 49.95 – and, at county level, has started to dominate in the manner that Graeme Hick once did. It will have escaped nobody’s notice, however, that Hick was rarely able to translate his domestic dominance to international consistency. But Root knows he can trust him, has seen him succeed under pressure and believes in him. In short, he is the sort of man Root wants at his side when the going gets tough.Gary Ballance knows he is unlikely to get a fourth chance to cement his Test place•Getty ImagesDescribing Ballance’s current form as “phenomenal”, Root insisted his new No. 3 was “a completely different player” to the last time he represented England in October.”I look at how he has performed this year and the amount of runs he has scored and he has been phenomenal,” Root said. “He has generally scored runs when the side has been up against it. He is that sort of character and a lot of people asked questions about the last time he played for England but I look at his game now, as do the other selectors, and he is a completely different player. He is desperate to prove a point and score some runs in this series.”A fourth recall, in this day and age, is unlikely. So Ballance will know he has to make this chance count. Root admits that both he and Ballance would probably prefer to bat at No. 4 – Ballance has batted there for Yorkshire this season and for England Lions as recently as last week – but Root has concluded, reasonably enough, that he should decide where he bats.”I think No. 4 is where I play my best cricket and where I have scored my best runs,” Root said. “Hopefully moving forward that can be settled and help the team.”Among the doubts the England management expressed over Ballance was his ability to play the short ball. In particular, they felt he needed to pull or hook more often in order to put pressure back on the bowlers and lessen their ability to push him onto the back foot. He has certainly been pulling this season, though South Africa’s attack – blessed with pace as it is – are sure to test him in that regard. If he gets runs against this attack – and a green pitch at Lord’s may have them licking their lips – he will have earned a prolonged run in the side. If not… One way or another, Ballance’s future looks set to be decided in the next few weeks.”Gary is very aware of his game,” Root said. “He has worked very hard at it and looks like he has found ways of putting pressure back on bowlers and making sure he does not waste opportunities. In terms of his defence, he looks very assured.”The other interesting nugget from Root was the suggestion that Dawson was now considered the team’s No. 1 spinner. As he claimed only 20 wickets in the 2016 Championship season – 11 fewer than his team-mate Mason Crane and three fewer than Adil Rashid managed in the five Tests in India – that is some surprise. He was not, after all, one of the four spinners England named in their original Test squads ahead of the Asian tours at the end of last year.But he bowled tidily on his Test debut – he claimed 2-129 from 43 overs – and weighed-in with a half-century. While Rashid is certainly unfortunate, it seems England have wearied of his unpredictability (and Root, as a Yorkshire colleague, will know Rashid better than most). Instead they favour – as they have so often – a spinner who can tie down an end and offer a semblance of control. It is a reminder that England are not in a golden age of spin. The harsh would suggest they may not even be in a bronze age.”Dawson bowled with great control in India,” Root said. “He looked very at home and he will complement the rest of the attack as well.”And where does that leave Moeen? England’s utility player, the man who has batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 9, now finds himself, for pretty much the first time in his Test career, playing as a batsman. Oh, yes, his batting has kept him in the side on many occasions. But he was picked originally as a spinner; a role Root now describes as “an add-on”.”We have our seven best batters in the country in our line-up,” Root said. “Moeen is one of our best batters. He will bat No. 7 and Jonny Bairstow No. 5. Moeen’s bowling can be an add-on to that and he can be very aggressive when he gets opportunity to bowl.”These are bold calls from Root.
