Oh no Joe, not again!
Skipper falls to final ball as he fails to turn 50 into a ton
He was struck a nasty blow to his index finger and then had to face a second brute of a delivery in two balls from Trent Boult but the bottom line is that Joe Root failed again to do what he must yesterday as england captain.
It may sound harsh to criticise a batsman who averages over 50 and who is a class above all of his team-mates but Root has to start scoring more centuries if england are to arrest what is becoming an alarming Test decline.
The statistics tell the story. Root has now made eight Tests half- centuries, one of them unbeaten, since his last hundred and has converted only two of his last 17 50s into three figures. and that means he is wasting his considerable talent.
Root knows it too. He knows he was overshadowed by Virat Kohli in India in 2016 and steve smith during the ashes. Now he is in danger of being eclipsed by the fourth member of the golden quartet in Kane williamson here.
The england captain was fuming when he gloved what became the last delivery of the fourth day from Boult down the leg side after receiving treatment to the index finger of his right hand that may be badly damaged.
stuart Broad said Root stormed straight off the pitch and headed to the toilet where he could reflect privately on what looked at the end of day four like a fatal blow to england’s hopes of escaping with a draw from this first Test.
‘Joe put his bat down and went straight into the back room,’ said Broad, who bowled well with his new action to finish with three New Zealand wickets. ‘I think he’s doing a few breathing exercises to calm himself down.’
Yes, it was very good bowling but Root has to find a way of selling his wicket far more dearly. He had seen williamson provide the perfect demonstration of how to bat here as he made a century in what became a New Zealand score of 427 for eight declared, Henry Nicholls finishing unbeaten on 145. and Root had gone halfway to repeating what williamson did.
Then it all fell down again and raised the question as to why Root did not retire hurt with two deliveries of the day left and hand over to a nightwatchman to try to make sure england went in only two down.
‘I don’t know about that,’ said Broad. ‘But when a bloke is on 50 he would have been backing himself to see off those last two balls. To be fair to Boult, he got it bang on.’
It was certainly the last thing england needed as they attempted to repeat their great escape here of 2013, when Matt Prior scored an unbeaten century and they finished nine down.
england were also concerned about their other two dismissals on the penultimate day.
alastair Cook may have made a double century in Melbourne to rescue what was becoming a nightmare ashes for him but there are still concerns that age may be catching up with him after his two dismissals here.
In the first innings he pushed at a ball he could have left and now, not for the first time, he lacked foot movement and balance to edge down the leg side.
This type of dismissal is considered a ‘strangle’, an unlucky way to get out, but Cook was culpable just as Root was in his dismissal. Neither of them, though, were as culpable as Mark stoneman, whose dismissal raises concerns over his future at Test level as it suggested that he does not have the temperament to succeed.
survival was england’s only aim when New Zealand declared with a lead of 369 and good oldfashioned application was needed. so why on earth did stoneman try a shot a ball?
He could have been out at least three times before he played one of the more dopey shots seen by a modern england player.
The surrey opener had just reached his fourth Test 50 — he has yet to make 60 — with a topedged pull off Neil wagner and had seemingly settled down after a frenetic start.
so what does he do next? attempt to pull another short ball from wagner, only this time from round the wicket. all he succeeded in doing was finding Boult at wide long leg. absolutely brainless.
england have lots of problems at Test level. Losing the ashes is one thing. Losing here against New Zealand would be quite another. and their captain has much to ponder, whatever happens today.