Anderson blames coaching staff as Root denies England Ashes rift

There is more finger pointing than hands being raised within Team England, which, according to Australian captain Steve Smith, is just a couple of poor sessions away from losing the Ashes.

The visitors have showed a united front in public since their last alcohol-related blunder but Anderson's comments in a newspaper column will further fuel perceptions of division within the ranks.

Players were reportedly unhappy with the curfew slapped on them after Jonny Bairstow's "headbutt", and it took the Ben Duckett incident for them to acknowledge they needed to lift.

Despite being English cricket's leading wicket-taker, Anderson refused to take total responsibility for his errors. While he conceded he should have bowled a fuller length on day one of the second Test, the backroom staff should have picked it up, he wrote.

"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," Anderson wrote in London's Telegraph.

Though it's unclear who specifically that dig was targeted at, England's coaches also have the right to question why the owner of 514 Test wickets could not figure it out for himself.

Root hinted Anderson may have been taken out of context, which seems difficult to accept given it was his column, albeit a ghost-written one.

"I think the relationship [with coaches] has been really good. I think we got it wrong on the field," Root said.

"It's easy to look back and say, "Go and try to bowl that little bit fuller'. We all knew that was the case and it's probably slightly harsh to put the blame on to the coaches.

"That might not be exactly how he wanted that to come across in the way it did but I think ultimately us guys on the field, we're the ones responsible for what we are doing out there.

"We have to be smarter, react quicker. I take responsibility for that as well, as captain. You've got to pick up on these things quite quickly and as a group we've got to adapt."

Root has put the pressure on his team's most experienced campaigners to deliver the goods in a match they have described as the "game of their lives".

"When it is as big a game as this, your senior players probably are under a little bit more pressure than the rest of the guys – because there is that expectation there, they've done it before and have got all that experience to call upon," Root said.

"I think it's important we go out there and try not to put too much pressure on ourselves, but know that responsibility is there – and harness it and try to use it to our advantage and try to make sure that it's not just those guys that go out there and deliver it.

"When you get your opportunity, if you get in or you're in really good rhythm with the ball, you take those chances and really capitalise on that – so the less experienced guys around can take confidence from you, and you can lead the way."