PERTH: England captain Joe Root sought to draw a line under the litany of off-field incidents that have dogged the team throughout the Ashes on Wednesday, even as a senior player admitted they would continue to haunt the side during the third Test in Perth.

Two-nil down to Australia after defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide, England must at least cobble a draw at the WACA to keep the five-match series alive.

On the eve of the Perth Test, however, the tourists’ hopes of focusing on the cricket continued to be tested with queries about the team’s off-field culture.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan criticised the side for behaving like ‘students’ on tour in the wake of the suspension handed to England Lions player Ben Duckett for pouring a drink over the head of James Anderson.

British media, meanwhile, reported that England coach Trevor Bayliss had threatened players that careers would be on the line if another off-field distraction arose following the Ben Stokes suspension and Jonny Bairstow’s incident.

Having already been quizzed repeatedly about team discipline, Root hoped that his players could put the focus back on cricket and away from the bar with a good WACA performance.

“You’ve got to take it in your stride, you’ve got to move on and as you’re fully aware from our point of view, it’s very disappointing how things have turned out so far,” he told reporters.

“It’s about putting that right now, this week. We had an excellent attitude around practice yesterday and it has to be the same today. It’s obviously been a big learner [in terms of captaincy],” Root added. “I think the thing that for me is that we’re so close to getting it right. We’ve shown that we’re in this series, it’s just pulling that all together.”

The off-field incidents have been used as ammunition on the field by Australia.

Captain Steve Smith claimed his team had unsettled Bairstow at the Gabba by sledging him about his head-butt ‘greeting’ of Cam­eron Bancroft during a boozy night out in Perth last month.

Anderson said Duckett’s gaffe was certain to be raised out on the field at the WACA.

“Fine,” he wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph. “It will probably be funnier than what they have spouted at me so far in this series.”

Anderson also took a swipe at coaching staff over their strategy during the second Test defeat, saying he and his fellow pacemen had not bowled full enough at Adelaide Oval. “It was an oversight from the players on the field but also from the coaches who could have had an input too, which is frustrating.”

Root moved quickly to play down any hint of disharmony, however, and said the team had trained with an ‘excellent attitude’. “I think the relationship [with the staff] has been really good.”

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2017