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'Never going to be perfect' - Root defends 'jaded' England over drops
Joe Root insisted England worked as hard as they could to be ready for the day-night Ashes Test, despite missing five chances on the second day at the Gabba.
The tourists face an uphill task to stay in the match and the series after Australia closed on 378-6 - 44 runs ahead.
Four of the chances England missed came in the night session under the floodlights in Brisbane.
England rarely play pink-ball Tests - this is their eighth, compared to Australia's 15th. Whereas Australia annually include a day-night Test in their schedule, England have played only one since their last visit to this country four years ago.
After losing the first Test inside two days, England opted not to send any of their XI from Perth to a day-night England Lions game against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra.
Ben Stokes' side instead had five training session in Brisbane, two of which were under floodlights.
"We worked as hard as we could," said England batter Root. "We did a huge amount of catching and making sure we utilised those two sessions under lights well.
Sometimes the catches just don't stick. You've got to keep applying yourself and wanting the ball so you're ready when that next opportunity comes. That's one of the nuances of the game and this pink-ball Test match.
However, former England captain Michael Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast no amount of fielding drills can replicate match practice.
"I would have done things completely differently," said Vaughan, who led England to victory in the 2005 Ashes. "What I saw today was a team that looked jaded.
"These fielding drills - they're fantastic, but you know the ball is coming to you. In a game, you have no clue when it is coming to you and it is completely different.
The art of taking chances is concentration. If you're not out there on a regular basis practising for many hours, when that chance comes you have to be concentrating to take that opportunity. The only way you get good at that is by training the brain to do it.
When this point was raised with Root, he countered: "It's never going to be perfect. All you can do is give yourself the best possible chance and I think we've done that.
"In the lead-up to this game we've got used to conditions, we've got used to the heat, we got used to the surfaces. We've caught under lights, we've caught in daylight and tried to catch in twilight as well.
We're not perfect, we're all human and we're going to make mistakes.
The drops were part of a ragged day for England at the Gabba, a ground where they have not won since 1986.
8.2 overs - Aus 30-0 - Smith drops Head: England's first drop, the only one in daylight, was possibly the worst because it gave Australia momentum. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith failed to grab a rising ball to his left when Travis Head edged off Jofra Archer. Head, on three, was out for 33, but the Smith miss sparked a chaotic period where Australia crashed 112 runs in 14 overs.
56.2 overs - Aus 290-4 - Duckett drops Carey: The true value of England's first drop under the lights is yet to be revealed because Alex Carey remains not out on 46. Facing his first ball, Carey gloved a venomous lifter from Brydon Carse. Ben Duckett, moving in from gully, got his hands to the ball but could not hold on.
63.2 overs - Aus 327-5 - Duckett drops Inglis: This was the only drop not to hurt England, though it still goes on the charge sheet. Duckett, at gully, was slow to move to his right when Josh Inglis slashed hard towards him. Inglis was bowled by Stokes three balls later.
68.3 overs - Aus 346-6 - Carse drops Neser: Another with an imponderable cost because the batter remains not out. Michael Neser, on six, slapped Archer towards cover, where Carse could not grasp a chance hit straight at him. Neser was unbeaten on 15 at the close.
69.2 overs - Aus 352-6 - Root drops Carey: Carey advanced towards bowler Gus Atkinson and flashed an edge between keeper Smith and first-slip Root. Root dived to his right and got fingertips to it, but it should have been Smith's catch. Worryingly, the gloveman did not make an attempt. "When you see a keeper not going for it, I get concerned by that," said Vaughan.
In England's defence, Will Jacks held on to a stunning one-hander to dismiss Steve Smith.
As Smith pulled Carse, Jacks moved from backward square leg, dived to his right and clung on with one hand.
Vaughan called it "as good a catch as I've ever seen".
Still, the drops further contributed to England's awful catching record in day-night Tests.
In the evening session of day-night Tests - the session when the game is usually played under floodlights - England's catching efficiency is 58% according to data analysts Cricviz. The efficiency for all other teams in the evening session of day-night Tests in 80%.
Catching data has been collected since 2006. In that period, England have only returned one worse performance in Australia than their five drops in Brisbane.
That was four years ago in Adelaide - another day-night Test - when they missed six chances.
"How often have an England team come to Australia and dropped catches?" said Vaughan.
"I said months ago that England have a great chance, but the one thing we don't focus on in the UK - and they focus so much on it here in Australia - is catching and fielding.
We have come here again and five catches have gone done. Two or three of them were goobers (simple chances) that have to be taken.
Source: BBC
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