59 not out: A better take a look at Joe Root’s file as England captain

Joe Root rapidly shelved discuss his future as England captain after the Ashes had been misplaced in Melbourne however statistics recommend he could also be nearing the top of the street.

An innings defeat on the MCG, handing Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead within the sequence, was no option to mark Root’s record-equalling 59th Take a look at as skipper.

He insisted it will be “egocentric” of him to debate his personal future however right here, the PA information company appears at how he compares to his nation’s longest-serving leaders.

The 50 membership

Root joined his speedy predecessor Sir Alastair Cook dinner on 59 Exams as England captain and is one in every of solely 5 males to captain England in 50 or extra Exams.

All of these have been within the final 30 years, with Michael Atherton the primary to achieve the landmark with 54 video games between 1993 and 2001.

That file stood till surpassed by Cook dinner in 2016, with Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss standing down after 51 and 50 respectively in between instances whereas Nasser Hussain got here up simply quick on 45.

None have matched Atherton’s eight-year reign within the years since, with Cook dinner and Strauss serving six years apiece and Vaughan 5.

Root, appointed in February 2017 though his first Take a look at in cost was not till July of that yr, is coming as much as the identical timeframe as his fellow Yorkshireman and after a troublesome spell – made all of the extra onerous by coronavirus protocols and having to hold the batting line-up virtually single-handedly lately – he might quickly resolve he has carried out his time.

Root’s file

Root’s 27 Take a look at wins as captain are an England file, surpassing Vaughan by one, though his win share of 46 per cent is decrease than each Vaughan and Strauss at 51 and 48 per cent respectively.

His batting common in that point is 47.47, round 5 runs down on his Take a look at profession common however nonetheless the best of England’s 50 membership, and his astonishing 1,708 runs at 61 in 2021 exhibit that his batting has been capable of stand as much as the rigours of captaincy.

The workforce’s batting file beneath his management, although, reveals a mean of simply 29.10 runs per wicket – decrease even than Atherton’s wildly inconsistent workforce of the Nineties (29.87) and nicely down on the common beneath Cook dinner, Vaughan and Strauss.

They’ve handed 400 in solely eight of 86 accomplished innings since he took cost – they’ve been bowled out as many instances for 120 or much less, with Melbourne the sixth event his facet have been dismissed wanting 100 together with a low water mark of 58 all out towards New Zealand in March 2018.

Remainder of the world

Root and Cook dinner rank joint-eighth on the all-time record for many Exams as captain, with Root set to go India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni into seventh outright on this sequence assuming he performs in each remaining Exams.

Graeme Smith is the one man to go 100, main South Africa from 2003 to 2014 wherein time they gained 53 out of his 108 Exams.

Australians Allan Border (93 Exams) and Ricky Ponting (77) sandwich New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming (80) on the record, with Clive Lloyd finishing the highest 5 with 74 Exams as West Indies skipper.

Virat Kohli has led India in 67 Exams following predecessor Dhoni’s 60, with Cook dinner and Root adopted by one other Australian in Steve Waugh (57) to spherical out the highest 10.

Waugh’s 72 per cent win charge is one of the best of that group, adopted by compatriot Ponting on 62 per cent and Kohli with 58. Smith and Lloyd got here up simply wanting the 50 per cent mark, with Root subsequent up forward of Dhoni, Cook dinner, Border and Fleming because the latter pair gained simply 35 per cent of their video games in cost.