THERE’S NO SKIPPING THE ISSUE FOR THE CAPTAIN…

There must have been times during the Adelaide Test match when Joe Root and Steve Smith must have wished they’d taken up soccer rather than cricket. Captaining a footie team doesn’t put quite as much strain on the old grey matter, and you’re hardly likely to get savaged by the media when the biggest decision you ever have to make is what to reply when the ref says: “heads or tails?”

However, when the coin falls your way as captain of the England cricket team you immediately hav...