"That actually stunned me" - Damien Fleming on Joe Root's reverse ramps forcing Australia to change their game plans
Damien Fleming has acknowledged that Joe Root's reverse ramps at the start of Day 4 of the first Ashes Test left him stunned and that the tactic forced Australia to change their field placings.
Root scored a quickfire 46 off 55 balls as England were bowled out for 273 in their second innings at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Australia ended the day (Monday, June 19) on 107/3 in pursuit of a 281-run fourth-innings target.
During an interaction on the SEN podcast 'Whateley', Fleming was asked about his thoughts on Root attempting a reverse ramp off Pat Cummins' first ball of Day 4, to which he responded:
"I must admit I thought we got it wrong a little bit in the first innings. I thought you need to implement the 'Bazball' fields to Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes to a degree."
The former Australian seamer added:
"I thought you needed to get a little bit more traditional to Ollie Pope and Joe Root because they just got too many easy ones and twos. Australia started with the traditional fields and then Joe Root starts reverse-ramping Scott Boland for fours and sixes. That actually stunned me, that tactic."
Root attempted a reverse ramp off the very first ball of Day 4 but failed to make contact with the ball. The former England skipper then struck two fours and a six off the next over bowled by Scott Boland, including a six and a four with reverse ramps, to give his team a flying start to the day.
"It's not a real risk" - Damien Fleming on Joe Root's reverse ramps
Damien Fleming doesn't see Joe Root's reverse ramp as a risky shot, reasoning:
"For Joe Root, it's not a real risk. He gets into position so quickly and he actually has the opportunity to either elevate or hit the ball square."
The cricketer-turned-commentator was further asked whether Australia's tactics were too negative, to which he replied:
"I think they got struck by Root's straight into 'Bazball'. There is no doubt about that. Fields-wise, I think they got it wrong a little bit as well. I thought they needed more cover on the off side because they had two slips but they had only one man at mid-off, and they were angling the ball in."
Fleming added:
"I just thought how does that ball actually get nicked to second slip. There were a lot of runs, even Ollie Pope actually punched the ball through the off side."
Root added 50 and 52 runs with Ollie Pope and Harry Brook for the third and fourth wickets respectively after England had been reduced to 27/2 on Day 3. All England batters, barring Zak Crawley, reached double figures in their second essay and helped their side set a challenging fourth-innings target for the visitors.