EVEN Joe Root’s staunchest admirers must be getting as sick as he is of the sight of England’s captain sinking to his knees at once again failing to converting a Test fifty into a hundred.
The relevant numbers do appear to speak for themselves.
His 83 on the first day in Sydney was the 36th fifty of his Test career, of which he has extended only 13 into three figures. Of the top five ICC ranked batsmen in world cricket, Root has the lowest conversion rate (26.5 per cent) compared to Steve Smith (51.1) Virat Kohli (57.1), Cheteshwar Pujara (46.6) and Kane Williamson ...