England’s win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s, their fifth Test victory in a row this summer, was founded upon two remarkable performances – a hundred in each innings by Joe Root and a century and five wickets by Gus Atkinson. With all occurring in the space of four days we truly live in an age of wonders.
Root’s feat, which culminated in his 34th hundred, took him past Sir Alastair Cook as England’s greatest century-maker in Tests. It was the first time Root had made separate hundreds in the same match which surprised many as a three-figure score pretty much looks a foregone conclusion whenever he walks to the crease.
As a batter Root’s brilliance is that he makes the extraordinary look ordinary and within the grasp of all those who can wield a bat. It is an illusion, though, because it is anything but straightforward. First, there’s the ability to clear the mind of any chaff and to focus solely on the task in hand.
Then there is the confidence to know you have the besting of the opposition, at least on a good day and maybe even on a bad one with a fair wind.
Many try to persuade themselves and others of their self-belief by bluffing but Root’s is genuine, based as it is on a sound technique that can switch from defence to attack in a microsecond.
He also possesses acute judgement on shot selection which comes from spending long hours at the crease and seeing bowlers of all stripes in conditions of all kinds.
To cap everything he has an unwavering hunger for runs which never seems sated, and which prods and pushes him to improve his game with all the zeal of a 15-year-old handed their first proper bat.
Mundanely it all starts in the nets; Root being a ferocious and voracious practicer who constantly challenges himself. One coach recalls an occasion in India where players were asked to design their own practice session.
Most continued with what they had been working on but Root wanted to get better at playing balls that suddenly changed direction off the pitch, so he set up a fielding machine to spit out balls onto ramps which then deflect them in surprising directions.
It proved extremely tough but it forced him to play the ball as late as possible; something which has become a trademark for him and arguably the best way to play spin bowling especially.
It is that desire for a challenge which led him to embrace Bazball and its seductive coo. Root’s need to show the young shavers he wasn’t some dinosaur from the age of cable-knit sweaters took him from his comfort zone, hence the funky scoop shots.
But although he points to the 2,488 runs at 59.23 he has scored since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over the England Test team, Bazball isn’t him and opponents have looked far more despondent now the old Root is back in harness, churning out the runs.
The only blemish on his CV is the lack of a Test hundred in Australia. That unticked box will especially aggravate as it has coincided with England getting shellacked there since 2011 without so much as a Test win. There are reasons. Root’s technique can withstand most aimed at him though not always the extra bounce and pace of Aussie bowlers on Aussie pitches.
One of his bread and butter shots, a sort of dab/glide to third man, has brought him tons of runs elsewhere but with the extra bounce becomes a liability in Australia.
Whether he will stop playing it for the 2025/26 Ashes tour or somehow modify it so it clears the slip cordon remains to be seen. But Root will be working on something to make sure he and England give a better account of themselves.
At 33 he could play for at least another five years should form and fitness smile on him, which means Sachin Tendulkar’s world-record 15,921 Test runs remains within reach (Root needs another 3,545 runs to overtake him).
So too Tendulkar’s record of 51 hundreds, though that may prove the trickier of the two to break unless he signs off this summer with another couple against Sri Lanka at the Oval later this week.
You wouldn’t put it past him. Root’s example is exemplary and it would have done Atkinson a power of good to watch him bat from the other end, not that Atkinson struggled during his innings which was full of sumptuous shots. It was his first hundred in any form of senior cricket and set up his five-wicket splurge in Sri Lanka’s second innings.
Like Root who has seven Test hundreds at the ground, Atkinson certainly likes Lord’s. Having made it onto the bowling honours’ board twice during his Test debut against the West Indies in July (he took 12 wickets), he has become one of only three England players ever to grace the five-wicket and hundred boards in the same match. The other two are Ian Botham and Tony Greig – not bad company to be keeping in only your fifth Test.
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