Joe Root is in Bambi territory again. The Disney character nickname was given to him by his Yorkshire youth coach when a teenage growth spurt coincided with a spate of leg before dismissals.A sudden change in his stature, shooting beyond 6ft from a previous standing as one of the county’s shortest batsmen, had discombobulating effects, with Root revealing in his 2015 book Bringing Home The Ashes that he could almost ‘feel myself growing at the crease’.The knock-on effect of which was a change in his natural balance, promoting a tendency to fall over at the crease – earning him his Bambi moniker from batting guru Kevin Sharp, and resulting in him being struck on the pads regularly by seam-bowling county academy opponents.Courtesy of his exceptional batting gifts, and fierce determination to succeed, the lbw harvest was eventually overcome with help from Sharp, but it is an issue Root concedes has recurred throughout this most illustrious of Test careers.‘He did say to me one day, a few years back, round about the time when he was first made England captain, that he has worked for years on getting his pre-delivery movement right,’ Sharp tells Daily Mail Sport.‘So, he kind of steps back a little bit and then hovers on his front foot. But this all needs to be aligned. If he is hovering on his back foot, and his front foot gets past his back foot, aiming towards mid-off, he can block himself off, losing balance as a result.’ Joe Root has been repeatedly dismissed lbw in 2026, an issue that first reared its head when he had a growth spurt as a teenager Root is trapped again in the second innings of last week’s Test at Lord’s by Pakistan’s Mohammad AliThe late Graham Thorpe was England’s batting coach the last time the lbw problem surfaced for Root, with eight dismissals in 13 back in 2021. Before that, there was a spell of eight in 15 in 2016. This time, he is on a sequence of nine in 12 stretching back to last winter’s Ashes, including seven in a row, discounting the second innings run out against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.Now 35, Root said after the win over Pakistan at Lord’s: ‘There’s a reason why I’ve got 14,000 runs and a reason why I’ve played the best part of 15 years at this level.‘Of course it’s frustrating that there’s sort of a trend. There are probably four umpire’s calls within that, which could have gone the other way, and the ball is probably deviating more than it ever has.‘You try and be realistic and understand where everything’s at, but also be aware of what you need to do to keep improving. I’m pretty sure I’ll get through the other side. I’m not too concerned about that.’Those close to Root know it is almost inconceivable to consider him passing up the chance of using a few days off this week to practise standing up straighter in his stance and pointing his front foot more towards the stumps at the non-striker’s end.After all, he has maintained an average in excess of 50 in Test cricket by being one of the game’s great problem solvers.‘His Achilles heel in his early days was actually not really getting into the ball enough and nicking off a bit, and so the hovering of the front foot allowed him to press quickly on to his back foot and get forward,’ adds Sharp.Root’s alignment and weight transfer have not been the only reasons for his struggles, however. They have been part of a more general trend. Root’s lbw issue is part of a wider trend. This has been a summer of skilful bowlers like Ollie Robinson holding court This has in turn encouraged wicketkeepers to stand up to the stumps, reducing the chances of batsmen getting forward enough to get outside the lineThis home international summer has been witness to a sharp rise in lbw dismissals, with the number increasing by 77 per cent in 2026 compared to 2021-25.The game is changing. While a previous generation of Test bowlers looked to swing the ball away, attacking an area around an imaginary fifth stump to challenge the outside edge, occasionally looking to go the other way as a surprise element, this cohort increasingly relies on running the ball back into the stumps.Using the natural variation of wobble seam – some deliveries hit the seam and deviate, others hit the leather and skid on – they concentrate on straighter lines, bringing the stumps into play for more bowled and lbw dismissals.The pace of the bowlers need also be considered. Over the past nine months, Root has faced Australians Scott Boland and Michael Neser, New Zealanders Matt Henry and Zak Foulkes, and Pakistan’s Mohammad Abbas – all of whom have operated at around 80mph.This has in turn encouraged wicketkeepers to stand up to the stumps, reducing the chances of batsmen getting forward enough to get outside the line, partly because they have been forced back but also due to a fear of nicking one into the awaiting slip cordon if the ball leaves them.Conditions have not suited Root, either. This has been a summer of skilful bowlers like Ollie Robinson and Abbas holding court. The kind which dominate county cricket. It is worth noting that Root has always struggled to replicate his Test numbers domestically, averaging just 46.As a player renowned for exploiting angles by deflecting and flicking, he requires pace on the ball and it is no coincidence that in its absence his Test mark of 29.44 in 2026 is his second-lowest in a home season.He will be doing all he can to address this statistic in the series finale versus Pakistan at Edgbaston next week, of course, but it is also a rut he will clamber out of naturally. Those close to Root believe he will be practising standing up straighter in his stance and pointing his front foot more towards the stumps at the non-striker’s endDespite Australian David Warner last year claiming Root has a surfboard of a front pad, it has rarely been exposed by genuinely fast bowlers on pitches of pace and true bounce.Indeed, it is worth noting that he went 23 dismissals without a lbw in 2019-21, a period comprising away tours to New Zealand and South Africa, and 24 in the years of 2014 and 2015 (when Australia were tourists here).And with South Africa representing England’s next Test opposition with two Tests on the Highveld in December, any unsteadiness on his feet resembling a young deer is likeliest to come from ducking short stuff.