Of all the revealing moments in Joe Roots innings, it was perhaps the irritated swish of the bat upon his dismissal that was most revealing.We have become accustomed to Root displaying frustration in such circumstances. He came into this game having converted just one of his previous eight scores of 50 into a century at Test level, after all, and having suffered what he described as two poor dismissals at Lords.But this time he had scored 254. He had batted for more than 10 hours. He had registered the 15th highest score in Englands Test history and the third highest by an England No. 3. He had shown he had learned all the lessons from Lords - his first Test in his new role of No. 3 - and batted his side to a dominant position. You would think he might feel quite pleased with himself.But instead he was frustrated. Frustrated at the manner of his dismissal and frustrated to tear himself away from the fun.Such an insatiable desire for runs bodes well for Root and England. It suggests that, after a phase of his career where he has been content to produce attractive cameos and fluent half-centuries, he is developing the hardness to complement his talent. The discipline to maximise it and make it count. The hunger that has been a characteristic of the most successful - not necessarily the most talented - batsmen in Test history.Root knows that scores of 70 rarely win Tests. They might on occasions but, generally, on surfaces such as this, they are insufficient.He knows, too, that this team need more from him. They are a bit too flaky, a bit too fragile for him flirt and flicker. He is required to provide substantial contributions.So, after the setback at Lords, he returned to the nets and worked on minimising risk. He reminded himself to play straighter, leave more outside off stump and make a point of rolling his wrists on any pulls or slog-sweeps to ensure the ball was played into the ground. If that meant some strokes brought singles rather than boundaries, that was fine.I wanted to nullify those Lords dismissals from my game, Root said. Thats why I was so revved up when I reached 200. It seemed like reward for all the hard work. It was pleasing to make one count.Some context is required for this innings. It has come on another disappointingly slow pitch, for sure. But it has also come against a fine attack with Mohammad Amir bowling far better than his figures suggest and a legspinner who is both No. 1 in the Test bowling rankings and who claimed 10-wickets against England in the previous Test on a pitch that offered him little better. Lets not always find reasons to diminish excellence. Brian Laras two highest scores were made on flat tracks; Matthew Haydens 380 against a modest attack. This was a fine innings from a special young player. Dont be fooled by how easy he made it look. It was arguably Englands best innings from a No. 3 batsman for almost six years. Perhaps since Jonathan Trotts 168 not out against Australia in Melbourne in late 2010 or maybe his 184 in the famously overshadowed Test against an excellent Pakistan attack at Lords earlier the same year. By comparison, Nick Compton contributed 296 runs in the seven Tests (13 innings) he played in his second spell in the side as Englands No. 3.The key difference between this England innings and the two at Lords was not the bowling or the pitch. Neither are as different as the scorecards might suggest. The key difference was the English batting.While at Lords England were impatient and ill-disciplined, here they - or at least Root and Alastair Cook - played straighter and left better outside off stump. That drew the sting out of the Pakistan bowlers and exploited the dangers of playing a four-man attack in back-to-back Tests. Root, in particular, did his demanding batting on the first day and reaped the rewards on the second.He has so many strokes - Grant Flower, the Pakistan batting coach, described him as brilliant after play - that he will rarely be bogged down. And, if there were times he seemed to settle for accumulation rather than savagery, that should probably be interpreted as maturity. Sachin and Bradman didnt always thrash boundaries; they appreciated the value of low risk, long-term batting. Just about all the greats have.He made it look simple, left a lot and played the patience game, Flower said. And he has great shots to go with that.Odd though it sounds, Roots problem in recent months may have been that his form was almost too good. With so much time and so many strokes, his issues have come more with choosing his options rather than being dismissed by deliveries too good for him. In this innings at least - and as he pointed out, he is only three innings into his new role so it is too early to make conclusions - he restricted himself to safer strokes and high-percentage options. James Vince could learn much from watching Roots development.The identities of those involved the last time two of Englands top three made centuries in a Test innings is revealing. They were Nick Compton and Trott (and New Zealand were the opposition in early 2013); two men who focused on crease occupation first and fluency second. For the first time in some months, Englands top-order took a similar approach in this innings with Root showing that he was quickly adapting to the differing demands of batting at No. 3.Trott always had some reservations about batting at No. 3. He felt that No. 4 was his natural position - he continues to bat there for Warwickshire - and felt that coming in a place higher up the order made far more difference that is generally appreciated. It forced him, he believed, to leave more balls and bat with a more defensive mindset. Having done it for a while, he was no longer able to rediscover the fluency.Maybe it was the same with Root here? Having made an effort to tighten up on day one - to leave more balls and play straighter - he struggled to find another gear when the time came to accelerate. He wasnt bogged down, exactly, but he could not match the fluency of Chris Woakes in the morning or Jonny Bairstow in the afternoon.But if the new Root is a slightly less flamboyant spectacle, it will be a price worth paying for England. For too long - since Trotts decline and barring Gary Ballances bright start - England have been reliant upon their long middle-order to help them to reasonable totals.Roots promotion promises to stop the rot before it starts and provide the middle order with the protection it requires to flourish. And this innings, coming after one Test where he struggled to adapt to the different demands of the No. 3 position, suggests he is learning fast. Its still premature to call him a great batsman, but he may be the closest thing to an English-born one since Graham Gooch and David Gower. And, by the end of his career, we may well have to go much further back than that to find his equal.Discount Air Jordan . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Cheap Retro Jordan . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. https://www.wholesalejordanshoeschina.com/ . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Wholesale Air Jordan .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. Cheap Air Jordan Online . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human.HONOLULU -- Arizona coach Sean Miller came up with perfect ending for his Wildcats.Kadeem Allen took the ball the length of the court and scored with 1.3 seconds left and the 10th-ranked Wildcats beat No. 12 Michigan State 65-63 on Friday night in the Armed Forces Classic.Putting the ball in (Allens) hands in that situation was I think the smart move, and he did a great job finishing, Miller said.The Wildcats fell behind by double figures early.We just got off to a terrible start, but a lot of times when youre not at home and you get off to a slow start, Miller said. You dont necessarily put it behind you, but we did and I credit our team for being able to do that.Kobi Simmons led the Wildcats in the season opener for both teams with 18 points while Lauri Markkanen scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Allen finished with 10 points.Simmons stepped up big time, first half he really carried the team on his back. Allen said. We fed off his energy and just played basketball.I feel like you have to have confidence when you step on the floor, Simmons said. My teammates know what we need to do, and I came in and just sparked the movement.The Wildcats won despite playing without guard Allonzo Trier, who is out for unspecified reasons. Trier was Arizonas third-leading scorer last season at 14.8 points per game.Michigan State freshman Miles Bridges wowed the crowd with some impressive dunks and he finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.The turnovers were ridiculous, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. We competed on the boards. We actually did a hell of a job on the boards considering we couldnt give anybody a rest because of the foul trouble we were in. That really hurt us in the first half when we were playing exceptionally well. I thought they turned up the heat, they did a pretty good job, but the mistakes we made were freshman errors and the layups we missed, you cant do that against good teams and win.Izzo took some of the blame for the opening loss.If I look at it big picture, I thought we outplayed them morre than they outplayed us and I love their team.dddddddddddd I think they have a good team, he said. To compete like we did, theres a positive in that but weve got a long way to go at executing down the stretch. And thats my fault. Just trouble adjusting to the lineups, I have to do a better job.The Wildcats are also missing redshirt freshman Ray Smith, who tore his right ACL for the second straight year during an exhibition game against College of Idaho. The torn ACL was Smiths third in three years, leading him to end his basketball career.Michigan State announced last month that forward Ben Carter, a graduate transfer from UNLV, needed knee surgery that will keep him out an extended period, after he was hurt while defending a shot.BIG PICTUREARIZONA: Michigan State was the Wildcats highest-ranked season-opening opponent since 2001-02 when they opened against No. 2 Maryland. Expect the Wildcats to compete for the Pac-12 title and a potential deep run in the NCAA Tournament. How long Trier is out will play a big role early in the season.MICHIGAN STATE: This was the first of several big tests in November. The Spartans will face second-ranked Kentucky, No. 1 Duke and potentially, No. 13 Louisville later this month. They have never faced three top 15 opponents in November and have never played four top 15 opponents in any month during the regular season.TURNAROUNDSimmons came into the game after the Spartans took the early lead.Kobi Simmons, for a freshman, showed a lot of confidence, a lot of ability. We went into halftime and I think he had 15 of our 34 points, and thats a big reason we got back in the game. Miller said. He has a lot of talent. We watch him every day and I think the best is yet to come for him, too.UP NEXTARIZONA: Arizona faces Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday in Tucson.MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans will play No. 2 Kentucky at the Champions Classic in New York on Tuesday. ' ' '
