The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Frustrated Root sees progress
Cricket: Captain vows to keep working hard after winless tour
Joe Root insists there are signs amid the frustration of England’s miserably unsuccessful winter that much-needed improvement is already under way.
Root’s men ended their five-month expedition to Australia and New Zealand without a win in seven Tests after their latest hosts hung on for a draw to take the series 1-0.
The England captain nonetheless spoke of his “pride” at his team’s efforts to take 10 wickets on the final day after the Kiwis had closed on 256 for eight as the sun set on their summer at Hagley Park in Christchurch.
For England, the view appears far from rosy as they reflect on a nationalrecord 13th away Test without victory – dating back to October 2016 – and another series defeat to add to this winter’s 4-0 Ashes trouncing.
They had 101.4 overs to try to break their duck and New Zealand’s resolve, as well as 23 the previous evening, but were thwarted by opener Tom Latham and No 8 Ish Sodhi’s respective rearguard innings of 83 from 207 balls and an unbeaten 56 from 168.
At the end of his arduous maiden winter as captain, Root said: “There will be a lot of frustrated people at home, and a lot of frustration within the side.
“We’ve not performed to our ability and not got the results we wanted. It’s been very disappointing.”
He identified reasons for optimism, however, and depicted last week’s embarrassing first-innings collapse to 58 all out in Auckland as a costly blip rather than an indication of worrying long-term issues.
“I thought throughout this week in particular ... we’ve definitely been more adaptable,” he added.
“We’re nowhere near the finished article, or where we want to be as a side. “(But) bar that 58, we’ve looked a much better side with the bat.
“You take that innings out of the series, and it looks very different, which is really frustrating.
“We’ll continue to keep working hard, pushing ourselves and find a formula that really works for us abroad.”
As for the near miss here, he said: “We threw absolutely everything at them.
“We tried a number of different things, and I don’t think we could have tried much more.
“I’m very proud of the lads and the way they went about it, and how we continued to keep asking questions of them.”
Ultimately, though, it came to nought despite Stuart Broad’s two wickets with the first two balls of the day.