Root and Paine's different paths to Ashes captaincy

One seemed destined to be a Test captain at 23; the other was thrust into the leadership following an extraordinary crisis and not long after he'd thought of quitting cricket.

When England's Joe Root and Australia's Tim Paine walk out for the toss prior to the first Ashes opener at Edgbaston starting Thursday they will have taken very different routes to get there.

England used to put a premium on so-called 'leadership qualities', picking the captain ahead of the rest of the side, whereas Australia would select their best XI and appoint one of them as skipper.

But an increasingly congested international schedule, which deprives Test regulars the chance of sustained captaincy experience in county cricket, prompted a change in England's approach.

Neither Root, nor his predecessor as England captain, Alastair Cook, have been regarded as superb tacticians.

But as top-order batsmen, guaranteed their place in the side, they have been obvious captaincy candidates particularly as, unlike frontline bowlers, they don't have to worry about when to bring themselves on.

When Root took over in 2017, he had been a captain in just four first-class matches, one of which saw him dubbed "Craptain" by his Yorkshire team-mates after Middlesex chased down a target of 472.

Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann voiced fears that captaincy would have a negative impact on Root's run-scoring.

Root's responded with a match-winning 190 against South Africa at Lord's, in his first match in charge, and a century in England's first day-night Test, against West Indies at Edgbaston.

- Lead from the front -
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