If England were looking for their new Ashes hero it took Joe Root only a few hours to stake his claim.
No cricket team can do a batting collapse quite like England and at 43-3 a few brewskies were being opened down under to watch the inevitable humiliation unfold into the early hours. Root eventually went for 134 and on Day Four Australia needed 412 for an unlikely win, strewth.
Australians can be insufferable when they’re winning but mute if things go awry. You can imagine early giddiness leading to unease and growing despair come Saturday afternoon as they suffered their own England-esque batting collapse, pig’s arse! Mitchell Johnson offered some typical Australian defiance, smashing Root’s optimistic spinning for 17 in a single over. Perhaps that was a ploy as Root had the last laugh, teasing Mitchell Starc into an edge and a rebound catch off Alastair Cook into Adam Lyth’s grateful, scooping hands. The same combination saw off Johnson and when Mooen Ali tempted Josh Hazlewood into a big swing who should be under it? You guessed it, Yorkshire’s finest; Joe Root.
He can bat, he can bowl, he can catch and he’s English; the little ripper.
By Omar Soliman
Also visit – https://britishballs.com/funny-and-old-sport-news/Â
