NOW IT’S HIS SIDE AND ROOT CAN LEAD THEM ON
Mystery as De Kock becomes captain THOSE WERE THE DAYS
JOE ROOT has been hailed for his handling of a Test side on the verge of just the second away series win of his captaincy career.
Root has been in the job for three years, but only now he has a team in which more players have been given their debuts by him than have not, does he truly feel in control.
For the first time in Cape Town and then again in Port Elizabeth, Root had six players in the team that were originally picked by him – and that means something.
There is always a special bond between a player and their first England captain, and Root appears to be growing in stature and respect as a result of knowing that it is his team.
And when his players put in the sort of performances they have done for him over the past two matches, it is easy to see why he has hopes of taking them to No 1 in the world.
“I think he is getting a handle on things,” said head coach Chris Silverwood, inset. “You see he’s full of energy, smiling. He’s enjoying himself and that’s always a great sign.
“Over a period of time it will become Joe’s team more than anything else. He’s out there leading the side and I thought he did a great job – the signs are good.”
Asked if he felt as if this was “his team”, Root replied: “It absolutely does, and it has done for a while. I feel the guys
QUINTON de Kock, left, is new South Africa one-day captain after Faf du Plessis was seemingly axed. There has been no formal resignation from Du Plessis or even a mention of his name in the release that confirmed De Kock’s elevation for the three are listening to my message, the way we want to play the game. Now, because we’re starting to see results, it’s feeding through the group and long may games against England – this a man with 115 caps as keeper-batsman.
Du Plessis remains the Test and T20 skipper and has made it clear his intention is to lead the side to the T20 World Cup in October, but that may yet that continue.” Root has now won exactly half his 38 matches in charge and, of the six England captains who have done the job in more games than he has, only Michael Vaughan has a marginally better win rate.
The problem for Root is that he loses a lot of games too – 15 is the current tally – which means that none of those six former skippers have as high a loss ratio as his 39.47 per cent.
How much of the success or failure of a side can be put exclusively down to the captain is debatable, but it is hard to argue that Root has made a compelling case as a captain of great wit or tactical brilliance.
But he has shown a willingness to learn and adapt and trial new ideas in the hope that a formula will fall into place. Maybe now it has. Having bought into Trevor Bayliss’s idea of ‘positive’ or ‘total’ cricket, buoyed by the Ashes win in 2015 as a player and the 3-0 win in Sri Lanka as captain, he has gone back to basics.
With a new coach alongside him, new players under him, and the oldest strategy in the game working for him, namely big first innings runs and wicket-taking options, he looks like a captain of real substance. be taken out of his hands. “We all know the quality of the player that Quinton has grown to become,” said director of cricket Graeme Smith.
“We are confident that the new leadership role will bring out the best in him as a cricketer and that he can take the team forward.”
ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY
1927: The BBC broadcast their first live commentary of a football match – between Arsenal and Sheffield United at Highbury.
1955: Joe Davis, below, compiled the first official maximum snooker break of 147, playing against Willie Smith in Leicester.
1959: Britain’s first world motor racing champion, Mike Hawthorn, was killed when he lost control of his Jaguar on the Guildford bypass.
2006: LA Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. It is the second highest points total in a single game in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s haul of 100 in 1962. 2007: Lyon striker John Carew signed a three-and-ahalf-year deal with Aston Villa, with Czech Republic forward Milan Baros moving in the opposite direction.
2012: Neil Robertson was crowned
Masters champion after defeating
Shaun Murphy 10-6 in the final at
Alexandra Palace.
2013: Bradford became the first fourth-tier club to reach the
League Cup final for 51 years after beating Aston Villa 4-3 on aggregate, despite losing 2-1 in the second leg.