Ashes 2015: Joe Root embodies New England’s air of abandon

There could be no more appropriate man of a match than the Yorkshireman, says Michael Calvin at Sophia Gardens

Joe Root celebrates taking the wicket of Mitchell Starc (Getty Images)

It had to be Joe Root, the chirpy, cheeky face of New England. He took a measured catch, hurled the ball towards the heavens, and sprinted towards team-mates who were giving their best impression of a chaotic corps de ballet. England had won the first Test for only the third time in 15 Ashes series.

He had set up the victory with a first-innings century of cathartic abandon, and eased fourth day nerves by taking two wickets, moonlighting as a part time off-spinner. There could be no more appropriate man of a match.

Worthy tomes have been written, attempting to explain the alchemy of elite sport. Unlikely careers have been based on little more than the theatrical dissemination of common sense. It is simple: nothing beats the beauty of going back to basics.

The sense of freedom exuded by this England team is overpowering. They are no longer enslaved by the banal, binary certainties of the data evangelists. They see no reason to be cowed by criticism, since they have survived savage scorn and the demeaning diversion of lingering in-fighting.

They know it is Australia’s turn to face inopportune and insulting questions, following a collective failure of nerve. Fissures have opened; senior players made poor decisions and Michael Clarke’s captaincy is under sudden scrutiny.

The trumpeter who played the Dad’s Army theme tune, as the seagulls swooped with increasing impertinence in mid-afternoon, was making a sardonic reference to an ageing, lacklustre team. Yet, despite tribal conventions, it seemed unfeasibly cruel to extend the mockery to Shane Watson.

His Test career was, in all probability, raucously laid to rest when, with crushing predictability, he was trapped leg before for the 29th time in international cricket. Expecting him to stand, as exposed as a man on a scaffold, while the formalities of a fruitless TV review were conducted felt like a case for Amnesty International. Cricket, like all sports, is shaped by momentum swings. The Test’s key incidents – Root being dropped by the tiresomely voluble Brad Haddin on nought in the first innings and Moeen Ali dismissing David Warner with the last ball before lunch on Saturday – were catalysts for England’s advance.

Tangible signs of confidence were everywhere. The looseness of England’s seven-a-side football match in the warm-up, where Stuart Broad dived shamelessly, Moeen demonstrated a silky touch and Alastair Cook (pictured) resembled a centre-half with navigation issues, set the mood.

Cook’s authority may be understated but it is unmissable. He led his team with emotional intelligence and technical precision. He made the right changes at the right time, offered subtle gestures of support when required, and is clearly admired and respected. He was mobbed after taking a tumbling, right-handed catch when Haddin impulsively drilled a Moeen delivery in the general direction of the suspension bridge over the Severn.

Moeen, placid yet quietly passionate, is an enigmatic presence. He may be marginally below the highest standards as a Test bowler, but he is buried deep in the order as a batsman of convincing quality. His response to being evacuated from the attack after two costly overs in mid-morning represented a telling character reference.

Moeen Ali picks up the crucial wicket of David Warner (Reuters)

That was a time of tense, nervous absorption. Fielders were on their toes, leaping instinctively when the ball brushed the pad.

England’s game-face is now decorated with a smile; in the darkest days of the Ashes whitewash in Australia 18 months ago, it was stern and robotic. Having regained perspective, the prospect of regaining cricket’s most evocative trophy no longer seems absurd. England now dare to be different. Yesterday’s field placings were inventive and unexpected, a tactical version of free-form jazz compared to the funereal dirges of recent vintage.

Broad re-emerged as an archetypal big occasion player. He literally bears the scars of England’s struggle yet has never lost his ability to galvanise a crowd and challenge the most obdurate of opponents.

The introduction of Mark Wood is another augury of improving fortune. His energy is infectious. His expressive face, captured on the giant screens as he set off on a soaring, swooping run after having Adam Voges caught behind, prompted a standing ovation.

When Wood heard the crowd chanting “stand up, if you’re one-nil up” he admitted it required a conscious effort not to break out into laughter. He used the word “fantastic” three times in a single sentence to describe his innermost feelings.

The sourness represented by Kevin Pietersen, who swaggered on to social media to damn Cook’s team with faint praise by suggesting assistant coach Paul Farbrace “deserves most of the credit here” is a thing of the past.

Root neatly summed up the shift in England ‘s mindset. “When they attack, it’s the best time to attack them” he reasoned. On to Lord’s, with standards flying and Australia swaying like the wind-buffeted trees on the banks of the River Taff.