He’ll be vital, too, as England journeys south this November to regain the Ashes. We wish Australia’s men’s team all the best as they seek to reclaim the Ashes. The team has only taken home the prized series since 2015. Now, all eyes are on Root as he looks to overcome a daunting history on Australian soil. Indeed, for all of his record output, Root is still without a century in 14 Tests played down under.
The 34-year-old batsman has been in good touch this summer, making 537 runs in five Tests against India. His strike rate of 35.68 in his Tests in Australia is way lower than his career strike rate of 51.29. This statistic reflects the difficulty he has faced in converting starts into substantial scores, as evidenced by his nine fifties without a century in Australia.
Past experiences of the Ashes series haven’t been easy for Root. He captained the side in that humiliating 2021-22 defeat. Behind the scenes, he was fighting Covid-19, as well as the other highly publicised incidents throughout the season including the Stokes furore and Jonny Bairstow headbutt on the 2017-18 tour.
As he prepares for the upcoming series, Root expressed optimism about his readiness to finally achieve a century in Australia. He stated, “Having played in Australia a couple of times before, now going with 150-odd Test caps under my belt, I feel I couldn’t be more ready for it.”
Root does recognize the competitive nature of the Ashes and the trash talk that sometimes comes along with it. Commenting on remarks made by Australian cricketer David Warner, Root remarked, “I guess it is all part of the fun, right? We will see what happens but it is not really in my nature to get too verbal.” He further added, “I can’t have any control or say on how people see the game or talk in an interview.”
As Root gears up for the Ashes challenge, he will compete for the Trent Rockets against Warner’s London Spirit in The Hundred tournament on Thursday at 18:30 BST. His string of performances are raising him higher and higher up the cricketing ranks. He’s since moved up to second place on the all-time Test run-scorers ladder, trailing only India’s legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Leave a Reply