Joe turns to Ponting to root out batting flaw

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has revealed he spoke with Joe Root during the 2018-19 summer regarding the England skipper's issue of converting Test fifties into hundreds.

In an exclusive interview with cricket.com.au, Ponting also suggested England would be well-advised to bat Root at three – even as the Australians target him with some "clear plans" – with the Englishman shaping as the key wicket for the tourists in the upcoming Ashes.

Root was in Australia last summer for a three-week, seven-match stint with Sydney Thunder in the KFC Big Bash, and when he crossed paths with Ponting, the 28-year-old raised a topic that has become a millstone through his Test career; in 80 matches, he has 16 hundreds and 41 fifties for a conversation rate of 3.56.

Conversion rates of the 'Big Five'

Virat Kohli (Ind): 100s: 25 | 50s: 20 | CR: 1.80

Steve Smith (Aus): 100s: 23 | 50s: 24 | CR: 2.04

David Warner (Aus): 100s: 21 | 50s: 29 | CR: 2.38

Kane Williamson (NZ):100s: 20 | 50s: 30 | CR: 2.50

Joe Root (Eng): 100s: 16 | 50s: 41 | CR: 3.56

"He said he wanted to have a bit of a chat about his cricket and where he felt he was in his career," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"For me, (his conversion rate issue has) one hundred per cent just got to be a mental hurdle that he can't quite get over, and the more you start thinking about little things like that, the harder they are to put them out of your mind.

"I'm sure every time he gets to 50 now, the next 50 runs he scores will probably be the hardest runs he ever scores when it should be the other way around; the first 50 should be the hardest and the second fifty be the easiest, but it always looks like it's just getting a little bit more difficult for him.

"But like I said (to him), if he keeps putting himself in that situation enough where he gets to that fifty mark, it won't be long before he starts turning them into hundreds."

Importantly ahead of the upcoming Ashes, Root's conversion rate issue has plagued him far more overseas than on home soil; he has scored 19 fifties both home and away, but 11 of his 16 hundreds have come at home, while in UK-based Ashes matches, he has three hundreds and three fifties (compared to six fifties and zero hundreds in Australia).

Aussies' plan for Root

Regardless of location, however, Root's worries will likely be music to the ears of Australia's pace attack, who Ponting said had "really clear plans" for the England captain – and strong execution of those plans – during their four-nil Ashes success in Australia in 2017-18.

Despite failing to have a defining influence on the series, Root did end that campaign with five half-centuries, and Ponting said Australia's pace brigade will have to improve upon their past efforts in the UK if they are to keep the Englishman quiet throughout this Ashes campaign.

"We probably haven't bowled as well to him in England as we have in Australia, or the plans that we've been trying to execute haven't been executed well enough here in England," he said.

"I honestly think the boys will have a pretty set plan on how they're going to bowl to him this series. I think they had some really clear plans in Australia last time, most of them worked and it wasn't until really late in the series where he started to even look at home or look comfortable.

"He looked uncomfortable all the way through that last series I thought, in Australia."

The focal point of those plans appears to concern Root's propensity to move across his stumps, leaving him exposed to an lbw or bowled dismissal from the fuller delivery. The right-hander was trapped leg before twice in the opening Test of the 2017-18 Ashes, first by Pat Cummins and then by Josh Hazlewood, though he avoided both modes of dismissal in seven innings thereafter.

In Australia's first World Cup clash against England last month, the tactic was back in play; Root was lbw to a full Mitchell Starc in-swinger from the fifth ball the left-armer bowled to him.

"Three or four balls was all it took to drag him across and then one just went right back down the line and trapped him right in front," Ponting observed of that match. "Joe knows that that's how the Aussies are going to come after him because I think probably every other team in world cricket does the same thing to him.

"So, I think the plans to him will be quite simple and I think a lot of the time with players like that – with Virat (Kohli) as well – sometimes the more you attack them, the easier it becomes for them. If you can just stick to a pretty solid simple game plan, more often than not they will come to you."

The No.3 question

The should-he-or-shouldn't he saga of Root with the No.3 position in England's Test batting order has already become one of note ahead of day one of the Ashes in Birmingham on Thursday week.

Root is no stranger to the position; he has batted there 40 times in Tests, averages 40.57 with two hundreds, and filled the role as recently as last year's home series against India.

Since his Test debut in December 2012, no-one has scored more than Root's 1538 runs at No.3 for England of the 11 batsmen who have been experimented with there – a statistic that highlights just what a problem area it has been.

And given the recent frailty of their opening batting pair since the retirement of Sir Alastair Cook (average first-wicket stand of 26 in six Tests), Ponting believes it makes sense for the skipper to be slotted in at three.

"They have a lot of middle order players – (Jonny) Bairstow, (Jos) Buttler, (Ben) Stokes – all these guys can bat well in the middle, (but) they haven't had a solid number three for a couple of years now," he said.

"So I'd be tempted, if I was England, to lock Joe Root into number three. He's obviously coming off a good World Cup as well, looks like he's in really good control of his game, so now might be the best time for him to move up into that spot.

"The bottom line, I'd be thinking about what's best for their team. If Joe Root thinks it's best for the England cricket team that he bats at number four, then they've got another decision to make. If he thinks it's in England's best interest to bat at number three, then he should bat at number three."

'Little boy' Joe

During the 2017-18 Ashes, Ponting described Root's responses and manner in post-play press conferences as being "almost like a little boy" – a comment that drew headlines and perhaps lost some context in sections of the media.

With England beaten in each of the first three Tests, the Australian felt Root, as England captain, could have publicly accepted more responsibility.

"I don't know how he interpreted what I had to say, but that was more about how some of the messaging he was giving after the games, after a day's play, saying, 'Oh yeah, we're really close (to a win), we're playing really good cricket' – I just thought he probably wasn't owning it enough as a captain," he explained.

As a former captain whose actions were at times criticised under the glare of the Ashes blowtorch, Ponting could also empathise with Root, who since the end of disappointing tours to Australia and New Zealand (where they were beaten one-nil across two Tests), has led his side to nine wins in 13 Tests.

"It's hard for any of us to make judgments on captains from what you see tactically on the field, because I've been there and I know that you can say one thing to a bowler or a group and quite often it doesn't come off," he said.

"You can set fields and plans for a guy a certain way and you might get him out the exact opposite way.

"I'm still a big believer that most of the captaincy stuff is done behind closed doors and around the group, and bringing the group together.

"You probably can't argue that other than the Test loss they had to the West Indies (earlier this year), they've been pretty good for a long time."

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Tour match: Hick XII v Haddin XII, July 23-26

First Test: Edgbaston, August 1-5

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: Lord's, August 14-18

Third Test: Headingley, August 22-26

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: Old Trafford, September 4-8

Fifth Test: The Oval, September 12-16