Joe Root, the legendary English batter and arguably the best Test batter of the current generation has had a significant impact on the England side over the past few years.
Root recently went past former Australian captain Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run scorer in Test cricket.
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With a big Australian summer fast-approaching, where England will lock horns with Australia for the Ashes, Root's batting form is expected to be crucial for England's success.
Former Australia captain, Michael Clarke, has fired an early shot ahead of the Ashes 2025-26, mentioning that Australia's key objective would be to prevent Joe Root from getting his maiden Test ton in Australia.
Joe Root's century drought in Australia
Despite being England's greatest Test batter, Root surprisingly does not have a Test hundred on Australian soil. Australia is one such frontier that the English batter has still not breached and would want to achieve success on, as England prepares for the very big Ashes coming later this year.
Root made his Test debut in 2012 against India in Nagpur and ever since, he has represented England in 157 Tests, scoring 13,409 runs at an average of 51.17. His red-ball career includes 38 centuries and 66 half-centuries, with a career-best score of 262.
Michael Clarke has now remarked that one of Australia's key objectives ahead of the Ashes would be to prevent Root from his maiden century on Australian soil. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Clarke said
"I think his (Root's) last challenge is to make a hundred or hundreds in Australia, so that adds more fuel to the fire for the Aussies as well. They'll want to try and stop that...I remember, I think Sachin had when he came to Australia to play his last series here, I think he was on 99 Test hundreds...we wanted to stop Sachin making his 100th hundred in Australia...I would imagine that would give the Aussies a bit more fuel to try their best to stop Joe Root making a hundred in Australia."
Despite all the staggering numbers in Test cricket and the records Root has broken, scoring a century in Australia has eluded him for a long time.
Joe's Roots Test records against Australia:
| Match | Innings | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s | HS | |
| vs Australia (Home and Away) | 34 | 65 | 2428 | 40.46 | 4 | 18 | 180 |
| In Australia | 14 | 27 | 892 | 35.68 | 0 | 9 | 89 |
Root has enjoyed a decent overall record against Australia, averaging over 40 with 4 centuries. However, when the batter travels to Australia, his numbers have gone down considerably.
This comes as a surprise to even the cricketing experts, as Root is seen as one such batter who is consistent across venues and conditions.
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Will Joe Root end his Test career without century in Australia?
While Clarke remarked that Australia's key objective would be to stop Root from a maiden century, he also mentioned that it would highly surprise him if the great Englishman fails to achieve the milestone.
"I'd be really surprised if he ends his career without a Test 100 in Australia. He scored a lot of runs against every team. As I said, his record is phenomenal, and I still can't believe he hasn't made a 100 yet, but...He should be so proud of what he has achieved already, and he's nowhere near done," Clarke remarked.
Root has had a really good series against India so far. In 7 innings, he has scored 403 runs at an average of 67. As England prepares for the big Ashes away from home, Root will be eager to continue his dominance while also notching up his first century in Australia.