England‘s top batsman, Joe Root, feels that just as a famous band like Coldplay can’t stay at number one every week, England can’t be expected to win every match. The 33-year-old acknowledged that England didn’t perform at their best at The Oval against Sri Lanka but believes they are a well-prepared team for the remaining five Tests of the summer.
Despite winning a three-match series against West Indies earlier, England was unable to perform a similar feat against Sri Lankans. In the third test, they lost narrowly by eight wickets after Pathum Nissanka managed to score a hundred runs which helped them chase down 219 with ease during the fourth innings of the game.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Root stated (via the BBC):
“We are not always going to get it right all of the time. For 90% of the summer we have. We have shown what a good team we can be. I don’t think we played our best cricket this week and that is going to happen from time to time. Coldplay can’t be number one every week.”
This summer, the Yorkshire batter has had a remarkable performance, being the top scorer in both Test series. He has become the sixth highest run-scorer in Test cricket at 33 years old by surpassing Kumar Sangakkara’s record of 12400 runs.
“We are always growing and improving as a team”- Joe Root
The stylish right-handed batter was pleased with how the young players have taken their chances and made them worth it. The previous England captain commented:
“We have played some really good cricket along the way. We have had new faces come into the team and some really exciting prospects off the back of that. And We are constantly learning and evolving as a group and it is nice to contribute to that. It is important we are authentic to what we are as a team and what brings out the best in our individual players.”
Before visiting Pakistan for a three-Test series, England will play Australia at home in a total of three T20Is and five ODIs.
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