Former New Zealand player Brendon McCullum has said that while the cricketing fraternity speaks highly about Joe Root as a “very good leader”, he hasn’t seen that quality in the England Test captain.
England suffered a humiliating nine-wicket loss in the opening Ashes Test at The Gabba in Brisbane on the back of the captain curiously deciding to rest his pace spearheads, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, both of whom share over 1,100 Test wickets among themselves.
“I think Joe Root is a wonderful guy, an outstanding cricketer and they talk about him as a very good leader. I haven’t really seen it,” the 40-year-old McCullum, who has played over 100 Tests and scored nearly 6,500 runs, told SENZ Breakfast on Monday.
McCullum was at a loss to understand why Root, who set an English record for most Test runs in a calendar year with 1,544, hasn’t been able to lead his side on the back of such a scintillating performance with the bat.
The Gabba loss was England’s seventh defeat this year and came after they had wrestled back the initiative following a disastrous first innings, where they could manage just 147. This year England lost the away series to India 1-3, followed by a 0-1 loss to New Zealand in the two-Test series at home. They are trailing India 1-2 in the five-Test series played at home, with the postponed last game to be played later in 2022.
“England had opportunities, they had their chances, but they just weren’t really strong enough. When the pressure came on and Australia started to flex, England just went missing. That’s their seventh Test loss in the calendar year which is just remarkable. Their worst ever has been eight and it’s been some time since that.
