Swann: Captaincy Is Holding Root Back

GRAEME SWANN believes Joe Root’s batting potential is being stymied by the Test captaincy.

- Chris Stocks

 The former England spinner was speaking after Root fell for 61 on the third morning of the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG.

It was the eighth time out of 10 the Yorkshireman has failed to reach a century after passing 50 since he took over the job from Alastair Cook earlier this year. It is also the 35th time out of 48 overall in his Test career he has failed to do that after bringing up a half-century.

Often compared to Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, Root’s career conversion rate of 27 per cent falls well below the 50 per cent of Australia’s captain and 57 per cent of his Indian counterpart.

While Root’s average across the 11 Tests since he was appointed captain is still 50.84, his figure of 33.85 in this series is not good enough for a man whose form was meant to be key to England’s hopes of retaining the Ashes.

And Swann believes England have held back Root’s ability to reach another level as a batsman by burdening him with the captaincy.