Join the Miguel Delaney team: Inside Football Get exclusive insights and behind-the scenes access to the Miguel Delaney: inside newsletter Football NewsletterJoin the Miguel Delaney inside Football He did it by shrugging. It’s not often you get to watch history. The storyline is told from start to finish. It’s been 12 years since Joe Root first played Test cricket in Australia. It was a horrible experience. Fifteen matches. 13 losses. Zero wins. Zero wins is the number that we should focus on. A century cements his individual legacy – the batter who could indeed do it everywhere – but winning in Australia is the true white whale of his and every other Englishman’s career. It was still a topic of conversation. It was an asterisk against him that would be held against him in the future. Pub bores would stop him on the street, and Fox Sports commentators would remind him every four years whenever he returned as a TV analyst. “Haha, you couldn’t do it here, Joe, could you?”open image in galleryJoe Root in action during the second Ashes Test at The Gabba (Getty Images)Joe Root’s life is easier now. And England’s is better. This was classic Root, not stereotypical Root. The best are the best, because they can adapt. His trademark has been a flowing backfoot kick/glide while on tiptoes for years. This is believed to have been the reason for his failure Down Under. Here, the ball bounces more and so going for width is more dangerous. We didn’t see the backfoot punch today – not until he was in the eighties. Root played within himself and straight after arriving to the crease in a mess with the Ashes on a line. The score was five for two – and his own innings could have been over from just his third delivery when he was dropped by a diving Steve Smith in the slips. Series can be decided by such tiny margins. open image in galleryRoot celebrates his first ton on Australian soil (Robbie Stephenson/PA Wire)Root’s history in Australia runs deep. In cricket, statistics are often filled with caveats. You have to squint to see the right story. But Root’s here is simple. At any level, he had never scored a century. It is natural that the Test record dominates the headlines. However, it also includes all of the other records, including the T20, T20 warm-up, and club matches.
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2025-12-04 12:24:45
