Conversion rate is Root of problem

JOE Root’s ongoing inability to convert fifties into hundreds reared its head again in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.

The England captain was dismissed for 83, clipping Mitchell Starc to square leg where Mitchell Marsh took a good catch, as the tourists slipped from a position of strength on day one.

His reaction was telling, beating the turf in frustration an echo of the fourth Test at Melbourne when he threw his gloves at the boundary rope after being dismissed for 61.

Root now has four fifties in the current series without going on to three figures, and just one century from the last 10 times he has passed 50.

That came against the West Indies at Edgbaston last August and was followed by innings of 59 and 72 at Headingley in the same series, and 51, 67, 61 and 83 in the Ashes.

He has converted only five out of 22 fifties since the start of 2016 and the trend runs even longer than that.

In his 22 Tests up to the end of 2014, Root passed 50 on 12 occasions and turned five of those into centuries.

In almost twice as many Tests - 43 - since then, he has made a further 37 50-plus scores but taken only eight of them on to three figures – one out of every four and a half, compared to almost one in two in the first third of his career.

Root has yet to make a century on Australian soil, and has three Ashes tons in his career from 11 50-plus scores.

The comparison between him and Australia captain Steve Smith in this series is also instructive - Smith too has passed 50 on four occasions but has gone on to 141 not out, 239, 76 and 102no.

The hope when Root took the captaincy was that he could emulate Smith, India’s Virat Kohli and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson by thriving on the extra responsibility and boosting his weight of runs.

He has 11 50s in 12 Tests as skipper, but just two centuries among them - 136 against the Windies and 190 against South Africa at Lord’s in July.