England legends Steve Harmison and Mark Butcher have not held back in their criticism of captain Joe Root as his tactics are yet again called into question.
Throughout a dismal tour for the English, Root's tactics have been in the spotlight. After falling 2-0 behind in Adelaide, Root lamented his bowlers for pitching the ball too short.
However, that forced the likes of Ricky Ponting to question why Root hadn't taken responsibility for the seeming inability to control his bowlers and their a ability to stick to previously laid out plans.
This time, the England skipper was under fire for his use of pace bowler Mark Wood.
Commentating for British broadcaster BT Sport, the pair were concerned that Wood was destined to break down again due to his heavy workload in Australia's second innings.
Wood has a history of injuries when playing red-ball cricket was England's most dangerous bowler in the second innings, causing Root to turn to him as Australia headed toward an inevitable declaration.
Butcher was left stunned by Wood's spell given the intensity he hits the crease with.
“I think this is crazy, Mark Wood hurtling in here, I really do,” said Butcher.
“He’s not exactly been less expensive than Jack Leach was, and the risk of damaging him before the final Test match at Hobart, bowling futile overs at the back-end of this innings is just madness to me.”
A former fast bowler himself, Harmison said while he had defended Root throughout the series, the misuse of Wood was a bridge too far.
“We’ve talked about Joe’s captaincy and fielding positions and things that have been labelled at Joe, and I’ve stuck up for him a little bit," Harmison said.
“You talk about fielding positions for Leach, it’s about how the bowler bowls. But some decisions are baffling, and to have your strike bowler bowling overs when they’re setting up a declaration when they’ve got a bit of an injury track record and background anyway, I just think it’s madness.
"We can’t go to Hobart and compete unless we’ve got Mark Wood in the side.”
