SYDNEY: Mike Atherton Tuesday said Joe Root was the obvious replacement at number three for troubled Jonathan Trott as Australian newspapers came under fire for being insensitive in their treatment of the player.
The former England captain said the baby-faced Root had proved he could handle fiery paceman Mitchell Johnson in the tense climax of the first Ashes Test on Sunday to survive on 26 not out.
"I thought Root played really well at the dying end of the Test at the Gabba; I thought he looked really solid," he told Sky News of Root, who is an opener by trade and played that role with Alastair Cook in the previous Ashes series earlier this year.
"He played Mitchell Johnson well, he looked compact, he got a nice stride into the ball.
"He also dealt with all of the verbals. It was a very intense passage of play and his angelic smile seemed to disarm Mitchell Johnson as well."
Atherton said this made Root the obvious choice to move up the order from six to replace Trott, who dramatically left the Ashes tour of Australia on Monday with a "stress-related illness", widely reported to be depression.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said Trott, 32, would take an indefinite break from cricket and would not be returning to the five-Test tour, which has been tarnished by constant sledging as frustrations boiled over.
While Trott received widespread sympathy and support from England players past and present, several Australian newspaper headlines were taken to task by a leading mental health charity, which said they were insensitive and inappropriate.
None was cited but the Sydney Daily Telegraph said on its front page "Trott takes his bat and ball and heads home", while The Australian referred to "Shaky Trott quits tour due to stress".
"If Jonathan Trott had returned to the UK for attention for a broken arm, he would not have been treated so disrespectfully by some of our media," charged the head of charity "beyondblue", Jeff Kennett.
"That he is suffering a stress-related illness that cannot be seen is no excuse for a lack of understanding by some of our media.
"Today's coverage just shows we have a long way to go with some in educating them how to report on mental illness."
Trott's illness sparked widespread commentary on cricket forums and newspaper websites, with most remarks understanding of his plight, although others suggested he should never been selected for such a gruelling tour if his condition was already known.
Australian players have not commented.
While Atherton favours Root at three, another former England skipper Nasser Hussain threw his support behind Ian Bell, who has long batted at five.
"Bell is a high-class, experienced player with lots of touch. He's got runs against Australia of late and he is the obvious man to move up to number three," he told reporters.
Jonny Bairstow is seen as a logical number six for whoever moves up the order, although the Adelaide Oval wicket may be better suited to all-rounder Ben Stokes.
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