London Defender

The Daily Mirror of the Great Britain

England cricket fans SLAM Joe Root’s captaincy as visitors slips to 29-4 on day one of the Ashes

England fans lamented their side’s top order batting once again on social media, as Joe Root‘s side fell to 29-4 in just over an hour on the first day of the Ashes at the Gabba.

Root’s men got off to the worst possible start in Brisbane on Wednesday as Rory Burns was clean bowled by Mitchell Starc on the first ball of this Ashes series in Australia. 

And after 69 minutes, the visitors fell to 29-4 with captain Joe Root and talisman Ben Stokes nicking behind along with Dawid Malan. Haseeb Hameed and Ollie Pope managed to steer England to 59-4 at lunch but it was a horror opening Ashes session for the visitors.

England fans slammed captain Joe Root's (middle) captaincy as the visitors had a horror start to the Ashes in Brisbane

England fans slammed captain Joe Root’s (middle) captaincy as the visitors had a horror start to the Ashes in Brisbane

Josh Hazlewood (middle) took two wickets as England slumped to 29-4 in 69 minutes

Josh Hazlewood (middle) took two wickets as England slumped to 29-4 in 69 minutes 

And cricket fans on social media were left to rue Root’s decision to bat after winning the toss at the Gabba, especially how green the Brisbane pitch looked before the devastating first ball.

One fan tweeted: ‘England won the toss and elected to collapse.’

Another posted: ‘Disastrous start for England. Suspect Australia will be batting when I wake up. Why oh why did Root choose to bat first on this green wicket?’

Meanwhile, on fan claimed: ‘England are a better bowling side than they are batting side, so on a 50:50 pitch why bat first. Surely go to your strength.’

Another said: ‘England win toss, elect to bat on Gabba green top. Too funny – what were they thinking lol’

Rory Burns (second left) was clean bowled by Mitchell Starc (right) in the first ball of the series

Rory Burns (second left) was clean bowled by Mitchell Starc (right) in the first ball of the series

England captain Root walked for a nine-ball duck after winning the toss and electing to bat

England captain Root walked for a nine-ball duck after winning the toss and electing to bat

Supporters slammed Root's captaincy decisions as the morning session descended into chaos

Supporters slammed Root’s captaincy decisions as the morning session descended into chaos

One supporter claimed: ‘England choosing to bat first on that wicket is absolute madness #ashes’

And another fan posted: ‘Not sure why England chose to bat first on this pitch and these conditions!! Wouldn’t have made much difference on the overall result but at least it would have kept it respectable ffs.. Embarrassing this #TheAshes’

After Burns’ leg stump went flying by Starc’s fierce first delivery, Malan awkwardly edged Josh Hazlewood’s delivery into the hands of wicketkeeper Alex Carey within the first four overs.

Ben Stokes (middle) also edged to Marnus Labushagne (right) in the morning session

Ben Stokes (middle) also edged to Marnus Labushagne (right) in the morning session

England were three down a few minutes later and it was a killer one as captain Root edged Hazlewood’s delivery to David Warner at slip after eight dot balls. 

Talisman Stokes made his return to Test cricket and shows some promising signs with a couple of boundaries but the 30-year-old fell in a similar way to Root, as his shot from new Australia captain Pat Cummins was edged to Marnus Labuschagne. 

Pope continued where Stokes had left off with some superb boundaries, while Hameed solidified his place as an opener by staying out in the crease for the entire morning session. But this was an Ashes entrance to forget for the visitors.