The prospect of Messrs Cummins, Hazelwood, Starc and Lyon – each in possession of their own fearful projectiles – lying in wait at the Gabba on 8 December – is far preferable to the uncertainty and speculation of the past few months.Īt one stage there were rumblings that those with young families – Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, potentially even Root himself – would in effect be left with little choice but to rule themselves out of the tour due to the stringent quarantine regulations in place. Jimmy Anderson had to stand in for his stricken captain to do the media postmortem.ĭespite this, when Root boards the plane to Queensland this week it might even be with a sigh of relief. At the moment of defeat he was passed out on a bench in the dressing room. Forced to retire on 58 not out after nearly four hours of batting with a raging fever in temperatures topping 50 degrees. Although he briefly made it back to the ground and out into the middle, he was physically unable to continue. Now captain and with England battling to stay in the game – the urn long since relinquished – Root spent time hooked up to a drip at St Vincent’s hospital up the road from the Sydney Cricket Ground.
A debilitating bout of viral gastroenteritis struck Root down. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Imagesįour years later, Sydney again, but a different type of spewing. He has made no secret of his desperation to put this record straight.ĭespair for Joe Root after his dismissal at Melbourne in England’s nightmarish 2013-14 Ashes tour. While the lofty 30s might be a mere pipe dream for some of the top-order batters who have made the plane, that’s a significant drop-off for Root whose career average after 109 Tests is north of 50. Oz has been his bogey-land, he has an average of 38 in his nine Tests down under. In fact, as he cruises over the vast expanses on Friday, he will be unable to recall too many happy memories from his intended destination. Root has never scored a century in Australia.
#CRICKET T20 FEVER 3D PATCH#
If England are to get even the pinkiest of fingers around the urn during five Test matches in Australia on deathly-dull drop-in batter-friendly pitches, Root surely has to pick up where he left off and extend his purple patch up to Christmas and beyond.īut here’s the rub. With the rest of England’s top order quacking and creaking of late, Root’s runs have been increasingly imperative. His six centuries this calendar year include three double centuries, a 186 and a 180 not out. Root has been an almost constant figure at the crease, runs flowing from his blade with surgeon-like precision 1,455 of them at an average a tick over 66. On Asian dustbowl and English green-top, under Chennai sun and Pennine cloud. In 12 Test matches, beginning with Sri Lanka in January and India home and away since, he has swept, stroked, glanced, cut, driven, defended and dominated against searing pace and devilish spin. Root has enjoyed a remarkable run of form in 2021. If there is a twinge of despair in the departure lounge or a wave of panic amid the clouds it could be because the next few weeks might well define his legacy as a batter and as a captain. Nevertheless he could be forgiven for finding himself somewhere between the two states of mind when he boards the flight to Australia on Thursday. Joe Root probably isn’t a twitchy flyer, “aerophobia” being relatively incompatible with the globetrotting demands of an international cricketer. On the flip side, perhaps the relative sanctuary and safety of the aeroplane is far preferable to what awaits beyond the tarmac after touchdown. More rational souls seek solace with thoughts of the destination, of exciting adventures in store.
0 kommentar(er)
