'Write Stokes off at your own peril' – Root gets behind star all-rounder

Stokes returned to action at the Gabba after a break of close to five months. He last played a competitive game in July 2021, after which he took a break to focus on mental health and also to rehabilitate his finger injury.

Stokes looked off-colour on his return, with scores of 5 and 14 in both innings with the bat while giving away 65 in 12 overs in the first innings. He also had an injury scare while bowling, raising questions over his match readiness.

Root has brushed aside those concerns, indicating that the all-rounder would not only be fit for the next Test but will be raring to make a difference to England's chances going forward.

"I'm pretty sure he'll be fit for Adelaide and one thing, you write Ben Stokes off at your own peril," said Joe Root. "He'd be desperate to get back into this series and have a big say in how it all turns out."

Another player who had a disappointing outing in the first Test was Jack Leach. The left-arm spinner was picked apart by the Australian batters, led by Travis Head, as he leaked 102 runs in 13 overs at an economy of 7.84.

Root came to the defence of Leach, suggesting that the spinner will have a "big part" to play in the remainder of the series.

"If anything, that [Leach's poor numbers] 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.

"Jack's a fine spinner. He's shown over the 20-odd Test matches that he's played what an instrumental part he can play within this team and I'm sure he'll play a big part in this series moving forward."

England fell behind the eight-ball in the very first innings where they were bundled out for 147 after choosing to bat first. It was going to be an uphill climb for the visitors, even more so after Australia posted 425 in their response, taking a lead of 278 runs.

Despite Root and Dawid Malan showing tremendous grit on the third day, England collapsed in the first session of the fourth day and set a paltry target of 20 for Australia to chase down.

Joe Root defended his decision to bat first but was critical of their performance in the first innings as well as their fielding.

"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, we created so many chances with the ball. I thought we were excellent with the ball in hand.

"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. 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."

There were a few eyebrows raised when England decided to rest James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the first Test. When quizzed about if they will be drafted to the playing XI for the next Test, Root kept his cards close to his chest.

"I think that's something that we'll look at once we get to Adelaide, once we know what the surface looks like and what the conditions are likely to present when we get there," he added.

"But it's nice to know that they (Broad and Anderson) should be fit and available and ready to go fresh for those conditions."