England / South Africa

Joe Root sinks a few and then wanders off on his own

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Joe Root (via England Cricket Twitter video)

If Joe Root’s going to try and lead by example, he might want to check whether anyone’s actually following him. If no-one does, then we’re afraid it’s just plain old ‘batting well’ – which is what he always used to do anyway. What kind of captaincy is that?

If you’re outperforming everyone else in your team by an order of magnitude, you’re not actually leading. You’re just wandering off and having breathtaking adventures on your own. That’s excellent. Decidedly handy. But it is not leading.

Leaders have followers. That’s just the way it works. Found an ashram, give people spiritual guidance, somehow raise obscene sums of money – that’s leading. Say exactly the same sorts of things after five pints in The Pheasant’s Arms and everyone will ignore you because you’re a mental.

Alternatively, leading by example isn’t really a thing.

DON'T BE LIKE GATT!

Mike Gatting wasn't receiving the King Cricket email when he dropped that ludicrously easy chance against India in 1993.

Coincidence?

Why risk it when it's so easy to sign up?

Similar deliveries:

Default ThumbnailJoe Root chips in Default ThumbnailJoe Root: the most boring one-day batsman in the world Did you see… Joe Root standing at the other end? Default ThumbnailJoe Root hasn’t made a hundred in England for almost a year

13 comments

  1. What is is with England captains making big scores in their first game? Is it something to do with them being appointed because they’re the batsman who’s most secure in their place in the team (and therefore quite likely to be in good form anyway), or does being elevated to captaincy somehow give them a (short-lived) ‘confidence boost’?

    Either way, Root is definitely not ‘due’ now, he should probably drop himself for the Second Test.

  2. I have a ticket going for Day 4 at Lord’s. A friend has dropped out and I can’t find any takers. Compton, can’t recall upper or lower as away at moment. No mark up. £45. Three of us in party.

    1. It was especially weird to witness it at the Home of Cricket…

      …(stops to wipe dew from eyes)…

      …half the crowd were still on their feet sort of clapping Joe Root off, sort of not knowing what was going on, when play resumed and Joe hit the next ball to achieve his daddy-hundred – so they stayed on their feet and clapped that instead.

  4. What’s really got me intrigued in that picture is the hoarding boasting “Pitch Intruder Detection”, as we have no such thing in Australia. How does it work exactly? Does it involve lasers, or is it just a bloke keeping an eye out for suspicious chaps near the boundary?

    1. I was also intrigued by that, Micko – I can find no information about said detection, and a google search mainly returns home security systems (‘intruder detection’) and this exchange on twitter.

      It strikes me that ‘detection’ of a pitch intruder is seldom the issue – normally there’s a whole crowd of people who are able to ‘detect’ the intruder at one stage or another. ‘Pitch Intruder Prevention’ or ‘Pitch Intruder Interception’ might be more effective.

  5. Dear KC,

    As per our communication, I have sent a cheque for £ 1111 to HH Blog-guru Baba Bowden — the Ashram has already sent me the promised ebooks ‘Nirvana behind the wicket’ and ‘The Corridor of Certainty’. Having consumed these, I am awaiting further instructions.

    Sincerely,
    Deep Cower.

    2. You weren’t meant to eat them.

      Not even sure how you did, being as they were ebooks.

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