Kane shows Root cause of problems
There are no doubts he is by far and away England’s best batsman. But unlike Williamson, Smith and Kohli – the three leading batsmen in the world he is bracketed with – there has not been a dramatic upturn in Root’s form since he assumed the captaincy a year ago.
He remains a very good player, his average since succeeding Alastair Cook in the top job is 52.71. But what keeps the Yorkshireman from becoming truly great is his inability to consistently churn out big runs when it really matters.
Series are won and lost in decisive moments and during the Ashes, there was no contest CAPTAIN Asghar Stanikzai played through the pain barrier to steer Afghanistan to victory over Ireland to book a place at next year’s World Cup in the do-or-die qualifier in Harare.
Stanikzai, batting with heavy strapping after an appendix operation, hit 39 not out to lead his side to a five-wicket win with five balls to spare after Ireland had made 209-7.
It is the first time the Irish have failed to qualify since 2003, while the between Root and Smith. Australia’s skipper set up his team’s resounding series win with a wonderful hundred in the first Test in Brisbane. He went on to score two more, ending the series with an average of 137. By contrast, Root passed 50 five times during the Ashes but could not go on to make a match-defining contribution, failing to convert on each occasion.
Last winter in India, Kohli’s 655 runs at 109 proved the difference between the teams in Cook’s last series as captain.
Since taking over, Root’s consistency has been phenomenal, passing 50 12 times in 11 Tests before this.
But he has converted just twice, in his first game in charge against South Africa last summer at Lord’s when he scored 190, and the 136 against West Indies in the day-night Test at Edgbaston in August.
Unlike his three contemporaries, Root is still waiting to dominate a series for his team.
Williamson, though, is in no doubt his friend’s time will come. “Joe’s a great fella and a great player in all formats,” he said. “He’s doing good things with this team.
“He’s still scoring plenty of runs. With captaincy, there are different challenges, it’s about adjusting and learning about the different roles.”
He’s doing good things with team
win capped a remarkable turnaround for Afghanistan after they lost their first three games, only scraping into the Super Sixes stage on net run-rate.
Ireland captain William Porterfield said: “We were probably 25 runs short but we can’t fault anyone. We had opportunities [in the tournament] but lost three games. We had key moments but couldn’t take them.”