Key events
The players walk out on an overcast morning in Manchester. It’s likely to stay that way all day. As well as England have performed, they’ve had some luck with the weather.
“I’m looking forward to a home win at Old Trafford,” says Andrew Goudie. “They’ve been few and far between recently.”
One poignant thing about Root’s comments on managing risk are that they could easily have come from his mentor, another middle-order batter who became a chameleon in the second half of his career. Like Root, Graham Thorpe created a bespoke plan for every phase of every innings. On the day Root became the second highest runscorer in Tests, the inquiry into Thorpe’s death came to a conclusion.
Joe Root on his evolution as a batter
[On the improvement in his conversation rate] I went away during Covid. I actually spoke to Nass quite a bit (!). I said, ‘Can I get some footage off Sky and look at modes of dismissal’. I wanted to see if there were any trends – first 20 balls, from 50 runs to 100.
I’ve tried to look at the game slightly differently. In the first part of my career a lot of it was about my technique. Where my hands and head are. Am I lined up? Is my trigger tight?
In the second phase it’s been more about managing risk, and thinking ‘How can I eliminate as many modes of dismissal as possible with the highest output?’ Sometimes the conditions are so extreme that the risk has to go up. Whatever the biggest threat is that day – bowled, LBW, caught in the slips – how can I eliminate it while still giving myself as many run-scoring opportunities as possible.
It’s a lot of information to process and it comes through experience. It’s difficult to do that until you know your game really well, what your strengths and weaknesses are. It comes from trial and error, from getting things wrong.
I think you have to see the game for what it is. It’s easy to get too emotional, be too hard on yourself or feel sorry for yourself. You have to see it for what it is, be very honest about it and then just try to put that into practice.
Joe Root on becoming the second highest runscorer in Tests
It is pretty cool. You look at the names on that list, they’re all people who as a kid growing up I’d try to be in the garden or in the driveway at our local club. We’d play mini Test matches: me and my brother and anyone else who was knocking around.
One day I’d try and be Ricky Ponting, the next day Kumar Sangakkara or Brian Lara – not left-handed but the same backlift, all of that. Even to be mentioned in the same sentence as these guys is a pinch-yourself moment.
The 2005 Ashes was huge for my era of player – [turns to Ricky Ponting] watching the hundred you got here and seeing everything unfold.
[Did you know the numbers?] You can’t avoid it, they’re everywhere! You try to put it out of your mind. It’s easy to get caught up in the stuff but at the end of the day you’re playing against India in one of the biggest series there is… yesterday was one of the most crucial days of the whole series. It’s not about you, it’s about winning a game and getting your team in a position to do that.
In the 148-year history of Test cricket, 3211 men have batted. Only one has scored more runs than Joe Root.
Ali Martin’s day three report
Root is as team-first a cricketer as they come – No Ego Joe, if you will – and will likely have drawn greater satisfaction from England’s position at stumps. It was a commanding one, too, the hosts closing on 544 for seven and leading by 186 runs. There is a bit of rain forecast to arrive on Sunday but Shubman Gill’s men will need to get there first. Given their bereft state and Rishabh Pant’s broken foot, it is hard to envisage a soggy draw.
TFI Friday? For India, it was more a case of TF Friday’s Over; on the 18th day of an unyielding series, it all became a bit too much.
Preamble
Morning one, morning all. It’s a big day in the north, love. England could take a decisive grip on the series, maybe even win it. India could serve notice of their intention to kick things down the M6 until the final Test at the Oval on Thursday.
England resume on 544 for 7, a lead of 186, with Ben Stokes on 77 and Liam Dawson on 21. Stokes hasn’t scored a Test hundred since his serene rampage against Australia at Lord’s two years ago. A ton and a victory would put the creamy glaze on one of Stokes’ greatest series in an England shirt.
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