Aug 20th, 2019

Aug 20th, 2019

England Ashes captain Joe Root has been accused of "blatant cheating" for claiming a dubious catch in the second Test at Lord's.

Former Australian Test paceman Andy Bichel levelled the damning charge at Root after he claimed to have caught substitute Aussie batsman Marnus Labuschagne.

Root's catch was cleared by the third umpire, despite appearing to touch the ground as it entered his hands.

"As a fielder, you know if your fingers are under the ball; I clearly felt that was the case," Root said afterwards. "I'm an honest guy, I am not going to try and cheat the game regardless of the situation."

Yet Bichel told Macquarie Sports Radio that Root had done exactly that.

"It didn't carry – you can see that," said Bichel, who took 58 wickets from 19 Tests.

"It's ricocheted off the player as well, so it's bobbled a little bit to him. He knows he's picked it up on the half-volley. It's blatant cheating.

"To stand there and then all of a sudden give Marnus a bit of a send-off as well – 'Mate, you're out, get off here' – when Marnus has seen the footage of it on the TV as well, that he's not out and he shouldn't be out. It was a real bizarre one from Joe, a man of that experience playing it out like it did."

England captain Joe Root at Lord's. (PA/AAP)

Bichel suggested that Root, still 1-0 down in the five-Test series, was a man under pressure.

"You'd like to think that there was a real gentleman's approach to that; just say, 'Mate, I didn't catch that', and you don't even go upstairs for it. It just didn't happen," Bichel said.

"A little low point for a man under pressure in Joe Root. He just hasn't got any runs and now it's just mounting on him day by day."