Gooch and Lehmann give Root seal of approval

The 22-year-old rose to the challenge of being installed as opener in place of Nick Compton with a stunning second-innings 180 at Lord’s, which helped England into a 2-0 Ashes series lead.

Root has made giant strides since making his Test debut in the middle order only seven months ago and Gooch is one of many impressed by the young Yorkshireman’s technique and attitude.

So, too, is former Yorkshire overseas batsman and Australia coach Darren Lehmann, who has told his players to take a leaf out of the Sheffield batsman’s book at Old Trafford next week.

Former England captain and record first-class run scorer Gooch said: “For every country in the world, sometimes players get thrown up who are not only skilful, have good disciplines and good habits but are very mature characters for young men.

“I think from the first time we all experienced Joe in India, a few months back, it was quite evident that this lad was very mature mentally, had a good work ethic and was very keen to learn.

“One of the most important ingredients for a sportsman is being prepared to drive your own career forward.

“He’s not waiting for advice; he’s seeking it. He’s seeking information, looking for new ideas.

“It was not a surprising decision when he forced his way into the side on merit at Nagpur in that Test, and he’s gone on and on.”

Gooch is wary of building up unfair expectations, but is unsurprisingly optimistic of much more to come from Root.

“One innings doesn’t make you a regular for a long period of time.

“He’s shown good promise. He still needs to be tested in different conditions, if he goes down to Australia this winter.

“He’s not a complete player, like nobody’s a complete player. He’s a young player with great promise and great skill.

“Anyone who sees him play would think he’s going to have a fruitful career – but you can’t be sure.”

Irrespective of whether England have to replace calf victim Kevin Pietersen, Root looks a certainty to open with captain Alastair Cook in next week’s third Test in Manchester, where the Australians will be desperate to respond after their 347-run trouncing at Lord’s.

Ahead of their tour match at Hove on Friday, Lehmann admitted: “We have certainly got to bat better, we know that.

“It’s probably more of a mental thing. We need to make sure we’re ready to go... have a good time down in Sussex, play some decent cricket and bat a lot longer than 90 overs.

“We had two guys get to 50 at Lord’s, but 50 isn’t going to get us to where we need to go. (Michael) Clarke and (Usman) Khawaja batted really well, but they need to make hundreds when they get to that position, just like young Root did.”

England can claim the urn for a third successive time – something last achieved by them more than 30 years ago – at Old Trafford, a venue where Gooch had mixed fortunes as a Test batsman, including in the 1993 encounter with Australia when he became one of the very few to be out handled ball.

That was in a match England lost, despite their captain’s second-innings hundred, on the way to series defeat.

There is a very different balance of power this summer for a home team intent on making their own history.

“I did manage to win the Ashes three times actually but... I did suffer quite a lot,” said Gooch.

“I don’t know how much some of these players would know the historical significance... some probably wouldn’t. Mainly their interest is winning each match they come up against.”

England must explore contingency plans to cover for Pietersen, who was off the field during the tourists’ second innings at Lord’s after a scan revealed he had strained his left calf.

Unfortunate history is, therefore, threatening to repeat itself for Pietersen, who also missed the final three matches of England’s last surge to home Ashes series victory with an Achilles injury in 2009.

Gooch is not prepared, and unqualified he insists, too, to publicly discuss the potential replacements for Pietersen, who had a lean time in England’s middle 
order at Lord’s, where he made only seven runs in his two innings.

The potential replacement personnel remains open to conjecture, with several plausible candidates but none presenting an obviously compelling case.

Speaking specifically about Compton, Gooch said: “I’m not a selector, so I couldn’t give you an indication to whether he would be the next cab off the rank or not.”

Unlike others, including Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance, the Somerset opener has not been seen around the England team on practice days.

A clutch of others have, and Gooch implicitly acknowledges the significance. “We’re looking not just at the players we’ve got but also the ones coming through.

“We introduce them to the other players, and try to prepare them a little bit for maybe if an opportunity comes.”

Lehmann will make more changes for Australia’s three-day match against Sussex in a final attempt to find the right blend before the third Ashes Test. He has already used 13 of his 18-man squad in the first two Tests and pledged to give at least two more – reserve wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and spinner Nathan Lyon – the chance to impress at Hove.

Cricket Australia confirmed last night that bowler James Pattinson will play no further part in this summer’s Ashes series. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture of his lower back following Sunday’s conclusion to the second Test defeat at Lord’s and will return home.