DEREK PRINGLE

It sounds like one of those problems that is the curse of the middle classes, like last summer’s shortage of iceberg lettuce in British supermarkets. Yet, Joe Root’s failure to covert 50s into 100s is becoming something of an annoying habit and not something any serious batsman would want on his CV.
He failed again, if getting another halfcentury is failure, on the opening day of the final Test in Sydney. There, with his team just moments from taking the initial honours, his near-effortless march to 83 was ended when he clipped a stray halfvolley...