Fidel Edwards takes a dig at Joe Root for ‘slow’ batting

From the captaincy viewpoint, Joe Root had to return home from New Zealand empty-handed. England lost the Mount Maunganui Test by an innings and 65 runs after which the visitors could only salvage a draw in the second Test at the Seddon Park in Hamilton. The Three Lions’ lost the two-match series 2-0. But from the personal front, Root had an excellent series.

The Englishman turned out to be the Brits’ leading run-scorer in the series with 239 runs at an average of 79.66. The 28-year-old could only manage scores of 2 and 11 at the Bay Oval, but made amends second time around. In the final match, he scored 226 runs off 441 deliveries in England’s first batting innings, His batting masterclass was laced with 22 fours and a six.

Root becomes forth English skipper with overseas Test double

Root came to bat after the visitors lost Dominic Sibley and Joe Denly in quick succession. To start with, he put on 177 runs with Rory Burns, who turned up with a 209-ball 101. However, it’s his 193-run stand with Ollie Pope that helped England surpass the Black Caps; score of 375 in the first innings. Root eventually fell prey to Mitchell Santner while going for a big shot.

En route the knock, Root also became the fourth English skipper after Len Hutton, Ted Dexter and Alastair Cook to notch a 200-plus score in overseas Tests. It wasn’t much of a surprise when Root was adjudged as the Player of the Match. Even as he received praises from the cricketing fraternity, there was one person, who wasn’t pleased with the skipper’s knock- Fidel Edwards.

Edwards blasted Root for playing slowly. The former West Indies fast bowler took to Twitter and wrote, “Watching @root66 bat is like watching paint #dry how can u be a game down and bat this slow #poor.”

Here is Fidel Edward’s tweet

Watching @root66 bat is like watching paint #dry how can u be a game down and bat this slow #poor

— Fidel Edwards (@EdwardsFidel) December 2, 2019

As far as Edwards is concerned, the right-arm quickie made his ODI and Test debut back in 2003 and donned the Caribbean colours for the last time in November 2012. In 55 Tests, 50 ODIs and 20 T20Is, the Barbados-born picked up 165, 60 and 16 wickets respectively. His last competitive match was in the County Championship this year in England where he represented Hampshire.