Bob Willis: Sorry, Joe Root, but this time you failed to impress me

Not content with being England’s best batsman in the Ashes, it seems Joe Root has been honing his skills as an impersonator — and I was the subject of his opening act.

Root pretended to be me when interviewed on television in the dressing room at Trent Bridge. My verdict? It was a good effort — if he was trying to sound like Brian Clough, that is. It didn’t sound too much like Bob Willis!

Yet it was great that so many television viewers were able to see the lighter side of a player’s character. In the past, we have had to sit through dull interviews full of platitudes and cliches. It’s far better if a cricketer is willing to show a little of his personality.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Root’s antics was Jimmy Anderson’s response. As I recall, he was wary of laughing too much because of the pain in his side. If he’s worried about laughing, then I would suggest he probably shouldn’t play in the final Ashes Test at The Oval, especially with the series already won.

When I went for dinner with the seam bowlers before the Nottingham Test, Jimmy assured me that he had not damaged an intercostal muscle, which is the kind of injury that can keep you out for two months. He is old enough and wise enough to know whether he is fit and clearly he wants to play but I would think it might be too much of a risk.

I have said before that I would retire both Anderson and Stuart Broad from one-day cricket. They are too important to England and we need them in peak condition for Test matches.

I have seen enough of this seam attack to think they can take wickets in most conditions. Certainly in South Africa, where England tour this winter, the conditions should not be alien to England’s bowlers.

The difficult challenge will come in the United Arab Emirates, where England face Pakistan in three Tests this autumn.