Ashes: Joe Root says England can 'get on top' of Australia
- Published
The Ashes: England slump to defeat against Australia on day four
England captain Joe Root insisted his side can "get on top" of Australia, despite a nine-wicket defeat in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba.
The optimism of a third-day fightback was wiped out with eight wickets lost for 77 runs on the fourth morning, leaving Australia only 20 to chase.
England have lost 10 of their past 11 Tests down under and remain winless in 35 years in Brisbane.
"I'm not trying to make things up," said Root. "We're not far away."
England were bowled out for 147 in their first innings, then crucially dropped David Warner and bowled him off a no-ball as he made 94 in Australia's reply of 425.
Root and Dawid Malan shared a third-wicket stand of 162 in England's second innings to raise hopes of a comeback.
However, after Malan was out in the fourth over on Saturday morning, England subsided to a seventh defeat in their past 10 Tests.
"There were periods in this game when we showed we are more than capable of getting on top of Australia, we just didn't do it for long enough," said Root.
"I genuinely believe if we take our chances and handle that first innings better we could be sat here in a very different position."
Root also defended the decisions England made in Brisbane.
After winning the toss, the skipper chose to bat first in conditions ideal for bowling, only for his side to be bowled out inside two sessions.
England also opted to leave out seamer Stuart Broad in favour of spinner Jack Leach, who conceded 102 runs from 13 overs.
"Batting first was the right decision, if you look at how the pitch has unfolded," said Root.
"If we had got 250 if that first innings, the game looks very different. Looking back at the toss, I would have done the same thing.
"In terms of selection, we wanted a balanced attack and we wanted to be able to change the momentum of the game.
"They took on Leachy. I was too aggressive with his fields early on. It's on my shoulders how I managed him, rather than looking at the selection or how he went about it."
The Gabba defeat was the first time in five years that England went into a Test without both Broad and James Anderson, their two all-time leading wicket-takers.
Root said both will be "fit and available" for the second Test in Adelaide on Thursday, where the tourists will look to the experienced pair to exploit the pink ball in day-night conditions.
With regard to Anderson's omission, Root pointed to England's lack of preparation and their experience in the home Ashes of 2019, when he played in the first Test when not fully recovered from a calf injury and subsequently managed only four overs before missing the rest of the series.
"More than anything, if you look at Jimmy's position coming into the game, it was a risk to play him," said Root.
"Anderson being available for as many Tests as possible is really important to us."
England have lost 5-0 and 4-0 on Root's previous two tours of Australia in 2013-14 and 2017-18 respectively. They were also beaten 5-0 in 2006-07.
However, Root said he had seen enough from his side in Brisbane to convince him England will not be overwhelmed on this occasion.
"That's enough of a motivation to make sure that isn't the case," he said.
"This team has generally responded to difficult defeats with some strong results and we have to do exactly the same on this tour."
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