James Taylor: Joe Root must show his ruthless streak and start making game-changing scores

This will be the summer that England’s Test team truly becomes Joe Root’s.

First years in the job do not come much tougher than the one he endured, taking an underperforming team on an Ashes tour, while off the field the year was dominated by things he could never have foreseen. It’s been emotional and a steep learning curve but will have toughened him right up. It might just be the making of him.

He knows that England’s first priority is getting back to winning ways. Like most Test teams, they are strong at home and poor away, and Pakistan, then India, provide a great opportunity to win two series. Both are very skilful opponents, but conditions here favour England and we should expect them to win.

England’s batsmen need to be ruthless. When individuals get in, they need to go on and get huge, game-changing scores. That starts with the skipper. He is the best batsman in the country and one of the best in the world. Now’s the time to prove that.

I’m not one of those blokes who says your best batsman has to be at No3, but Joe’s move there is correct. Your best batsman should go where he will be most productive for him and the team. That’s No3, even if his hand has slightly been forced with Jonny Bairstow moving into the top five and no other obvious candidate to go first drop. He’s done it before and has his highest Test score there - against Pakistan, too (254 in 2016). No one has been able to fill it for a long period since Jonathan Trott. Joe has that chance now.

There’s lots of talk about Joe’s rate of conversion from fifties to hundreds. He has nine fifties in nine Tests since he last made a century and has 13 Test hundreds but knows full well that he is good enough to have at least 17 or 18 by now.

There are many worse problems to have than that - the guy averages almost 53 in Tests - but it is something he is desperate to put right, both because he will win more games for England when he sorts it, and it will set an example for his team-mates. As captain you want to say “follow me” and be the guy shaping games with huge scores.

But at least he’s making fifties. I think the floodgates will open eventually and the tons will keep coming. Then, his place in the top bracket of world batsmen will be assured. Let’s hope it’s this summer.

If Joe gets that right, the rest will follow. A captain is only as good as the team that’s with him and every England player enters the summer with something to prove. He is not the only batsmen to have made too many scores of 50 or 60 and not kicked on.

I’ll go back to that word: ruthless. England weren’t dominated in Australia. It sometimes seemed that way, but really they wasted a good position in all four defeats. Look at when James Vince got run out in Brisbane, or before the collapse in Perth.

They had lots of opportunities to capitalise but failed to seize big moments in games. Recognise that it’s a key moment and that the opposition are down. Put your foot on the throat and keep it there.

I’m well-placed to help England out

I’m honoured to be asked to help out England and Ed Smith with some scouting for selection.

I’ve known the county circuit well for the last decade and am very familiar with the player pathway: I went through the whole system from U13 Midlands, each age group, Lions and then England.

I’ve played against almost all county players and even in the two years since I retired I’ve stayed really close, commentating, coaching at Northants and England U19s and just generally being amongst the game. I know the set-up and I think I’m well placed to comment.

I’ve been allocated a number of players to watch in different formats. I will be keeping an eye on batsmen specifically (and maybe spinners at some stage). We are after players with the temperament and technique to thrive at international level.

The panel of six is very current and all of us remain close to the game, whether that’s Marcus Trescothick still playing or Glen Chapple coaching. Hopefully, we can bring lots to the table.

Ed Smith's six scouts

Marcus Trescothick
England opener who retired in 2006 due to depression caused by touring. Still churning out tons for Somerset

Glen Chapple
Wily seam made him owner of 985 first-class wickets, but just one ODI cap. Last played in 2015, and is Lancashire’s head coach

Richard Dawson
Yorkie who played seven Tests in early Noughties as an off-spinner. Is head coach at Gloucestershire

Steve Rhodes
Played 11 Tests in mid-nineties and was a stalwart for 20 years at Worcestershire, where he became director of cricket

James Taylor
Promising career cruelly ended by serious heart condition in 2016. Now works in coaching and the media

Chris Read
A superb servant of Nottinghamshire as captain and keeper-batsman. Retired last year and now works at Uppingham School. Could easily have played more than 15 Tests

Not long now until Cut Short

A few extracts of my book Cut Short were published over the weekend and it’s made me even more excited for publication date next Friday.

I’m looking forward to people reading what I have got to say. People have just seen a little snippet of what’s in there, and there’s plenty more to come!

There were bits about my health that were hard to write, but I’ve just been incredibly honest. I look forward to hearing what you all think.