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Joe Root says his second-innings half-century in England’s first-Test defeat of New Zealand has given him a “kick up the backside”.
The former captain has gone seven Tests without making a hundred, his longest spell without a ton in two years.
He looked fluent in his 57 made from 62 balls in Mount Maunganui, as England won by 267 runs.
“I’ve not performed for a little while, so I had the bit between my teeth in the second innings,” said Root.
“It’s given me a little sharpener, a kick up the backside, that this is how I need to play my cricket, how I can be consistently useful in this group.”
From the beginning of 2021 to the middle of last summer, Root was in form unmatched by any other batter on the planet, scoring 11 hundreds in 24 Tests and averaging 61.
His batting form remained strong despite the unravelling of his captaincy, with England winning only one of his last 17 Tests in charge.
Root was replaced by Ben Stokes in May last…
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