England skipper bailed out as woodwork remains rooted

England captain Joe Root received an incredible slice of luck early on day two at Edgbaston that left paceman James Pattinson and his Australian teammates stunned in disbelief.

Root was given out caught behind off the bowling of Pattinson but immediately called for a review, which showed the ball had safely passed the bat and instead clipped the top of his off stump.

The woodwork significantly shifted at the point of impact but not enough to dislodge the bail, leaving Pattinson perplexed.

The fiery speedster flicked up the bail in frustration and mockingly performed a few bicep curls with it to ensure it was not glued to the stumps.

Root survived the scare on nine while the stubborn woodwork denied Pattinson his second wicket of the day, having dismissed Jason Roy for his first Test scalp in 1257 days, dating back to February 23 2016 in Christchurch.

The bails used in the Ashes are of the traditional wooden variety, unlike all international fixtures in Australia which use the electronic Zing bails and stumps.

The Zing stumps came under fire in the recently-completed World Cup in the United Kingdom when a number of balls hit the stumps without dislodging the bails.

The International Cricket Council claimed the light-up bails are no heavier than the heavy wooden bails used in windy conditions.

Even the manufacturer of the Zing technology could not explain the phenomenon, but said the light-up bails were just one factor in why numerous batsmen survived being bowled during the World Cup.

"This issue isn't all about the weight of the bails, as a complicated interdependent range of factors come into play," said David Ligertwood, director of Zing.

"The bails, stumps, stump grooves depth and shape, pitch conditions, stump cam etc. all affect it.

"Testing shows the bail's weight isn't necessarily the most significant factor."

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

First Test: August 1-5,Edgbaston

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's

Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval