Burns insists Root has backing of everyone after skipper’s century

Rory Burns insists Joe Root has the backing of everyone in the England camp after the pair both recorded centuries on day three of the second Test against New Zealand at Hamilton.

There has been scrutiny over whether the captaincy is impinging on Root’s batting because of his average of just 27.4 in his 10 previous Tests this year, but he ended his lean trot with an unbeaten 114 at Seddon Park.

The 259 deliveries Root took to reach three figures was the slowest of his 17 Test hundreds, six of them have come at the helm of the side, but his innings, allied to Burns’ 101, helped England to 269 for five.

The tourists were denied the chance to reduce arrears of 106 further after rain washed out the last hour but Root will be at the crease at the start of day four as England go in search of a first-innings lead. Burns said: “It’s obviously really nice to see the skipper get his runs.

“He’s a very good player and a lot of stuff has been potentially said in recent times. Not scoring runs as a batsman might bring other things into the equation which isn’t necessarily true.

“It’s because when he bats like that, everyone’s behind him and knows exactly what he can do.

“For Rooty to get those runs, he’ll be feeling very good but he also knows that there’s more runs to be had and there’s another partnership to get into and can we extend this and can we stretch the game in our favour.”

Root’s 177-run stand alongside Burns came a day after England seamer Stuart Broad had said: “If you’re a batsman, you’d want to bat out there.”