England captain Joe Root said the team
management was looking for variation as he defended the decision to bench
senior pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad after losing the first Ashes Test
at the Gabba on Saturday. Root raised a lot of eyebrows when he confirmed the
playing eleven at the toss on Wednesday, with the tourists leaving a total of 1,156
Test wickets on the bench.

“It’s easy to look back in hindsight. One
thing I will say is that we wanted variation in our attack. We wanted to be
able to change the pace of the game and move through different gears throughout
the innings. I thought our seamers were brilliant, Woody (Mark Wood) in
particular, Robbo (Ollie Robinson) as well and (they were) backed up by the
other guys,” Root said.

Also Read | ‘I knew it was sandpaper’: Josh Hazlewood falls victim to Barmy Army’s prank

The 30-year-old also lamented his side’s
missed chances, especially in the field. “We created a lot of chances but we’ve
just got to take them. We want to be better in the field. If we did that the
game could have looked very different: we could have been looking at – even
with the way that we played this morning – we could have been 150 ahead and
it’s a very different context of the game then.”

Root also defended Jack Leach’s torrid
performance in the match. The left-arm was targeted by the Australian batters,
who scored 102 runs off his 13 overs while losing just one wicket.

Also Read | Ashes: England fined 100% match fees, lose WTC points for slow over rate

“If anything, that probably falls on me for
probably giving him too aggressive fields, too early – not letting him settle
in and giving him a bit more of a chance early on,” Root said.

On the decision to bat first on pitch that aided
the quicks on the opening day, Root said it was the correct call and called on
his side to “be better in the first innings”.

“The toss, I think it was the right decision,
but when you’re 40 (29) for 4, it’s very difficult to get yourself back in the
game from that position. We have to be better in that first innings and manage
those conditions in that situation better moving forward and ultimately as well,”
Root said.

Also Read | Ashes 2021: Ben Stokes’ 12 no-balls go undetected vs Australia

After collapsing for 147 in the first
innings and conceding a 278-run lead to the hosts, Root (89) and Dawid Malan
(82) led a rally on Day 3 to give England hope.

But all optimism was quickly dashed on Saturday
as veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who reached 400 Test wickets, scalped four to set
up Australia’s nine-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead in the series.