ROOT HAS EYE ON AB’S RECORD

JOE ROOT broke John Edrich’s (right) England record when he reached 50 for the 11th Test in succession — and he could equal the world record next week on his home ground at Headingley. Only South Africa’s AB de Villiers lies ahead, having achieved the feat for 12 Tests running between November 2012 and February 2014. ROOT’S 136 took his Test average in England to a remarkable 60.33 — the secondhighest of any England batsman, behind his fellow Yorkshireman Herbert Sutcliffe, who averaged 64.60 in 33 Tests between 1924 and 1935. The only other England batsman to average 60-plus was Denis Compton, with 60.04.