The third Test at Edgbaston, beginning on September 9, will offer Root the chance to bump up that average, as well as his overall summer numbers of 265 runs at 29.44. He can also use the remaining two innings to ensure he leaves the summer with a century, something he has not failed to do since 2019.
Root, however, is not worried, even if seven of his nine dismissals this term have been lbw. The ICC’s No.2 ranked batter – a notch below team-mate Harry Brook – has vowed to iron out what kinks there may be, especially at a time when teams are targeting him and Brook by bringing the wicketkeeper up to the stumps in order to moor them to the crease.
“I’d had loved to have scored more runs,” Root said in his post-match press conference. “It’s been difficult, but when you’re winning games it’s important to see things for what they are.
“The reason I’ve got the runs I have, and had the amount of time playing Test cricket, is because I’ve always been quite good at understanding, being level and eventually problem-solving. I’ll continue to keep working hard.
“I might have been out lbw a few times, but four of those have been umpire’s call. If they go the other way, it might not be as much of a talking point.
“Again, I think you have to look at it from a realistic point of view. Clearly there’s a trend there and it’s happened a couple of times, but to what extent is it something to be really concerned about?
“If I was getting out like that and other ways, that’s even more concerning. Of course I’m aware of it, but I’ve got 14,000 runs for a reason. I can play and I’ve managed to get through difficult phases throughout my career. I don’t see this being any different.
“We’ve also seen the ball move more than it ever has done. Three of those dismissals have been at Lord’s, where it has seamed significantly. I think there has to be a sense of calm and realism about things, but I’ll also continue to work at my game, improving it. I know I’m a good player and I’d like to think there’s a big score around the corner.”
Root is right. The lateral movement off the pitch at Lord’s, where he has fallen lbw to New Zealand’s Nathan Smith in June before Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali in this Test, has been particularly stark. CricViz noted the surface for this second Test has drawn the second-highest false-shot percentage (32.7%) of the 800-plus matches where such data has been collected since 2006.
But the 35-year-old also has a theory as to why this summer has been such a bowler’s paradise – the Dukes balls.
The result, according to Root, is a more robust seam that is creating grooves in the pitch that exacerbate the movement when other deliveries hit them, and is also indenting bats during training. Dukes insist there has been no change in the manufacturing process.
“I think the balls have been very different this year,” Root said. “I think there’s a different lacquer to them. I don’t know, I’ve not got evidence on that… and [you] probably need to ask Dukes, but I think there’s a lacquer on the seam. They don’t want them to go out of shape and get them changed, and I think that they are affecting the wickets as well.
“I think they’re dinting more. As a batter when you practise, they’re cracking your bats more frequently and they seem a lot firmer. And if they’re dinting the wickets, then it’s going to seam off the dints as well. It’s going to make it move more. I wonder if there’s an element of that to it as well.”
On the result overall, Root was buoyed by how a much-changed Test team has adapted to the challenges, not just underfoot but encompassing the environment after a summer littered with change, controversy and defeat.
Brydon Carse’s handcuffing outside a nightclub in Derby last weekend, a matter Derbyshire police say they are still investigating regarding allegations of assault, brought more to Root’s door between the first and second Pakistan Test.
Root sat the team down at Lord’s on Tuesday morning to remind them of the privilege of playing for England. Five days later, he was effusive at the manner in which the team have backed up Headingley’s victory, by an innings and 103 runs, with another by 194 inside four rain-affected days. The net result is England’s first series win since December 2024.
“When we spoke at the start of the week, albeit… not around the cricket necessarily… that’s kind of what I said; this is a group of players that’s going to lead and be around this team for a long period of time, and both on the field and off the field have a real opportunity to influence and shape it.
“The two performances that we’ve put forward so far have been a really good step in the right direction in that respect.
“The chance now is to go and do that once again at Edgbaston, in whatever situation we find ourselves in, in whatever conditions we find ourselves in, and then move forward again to the next challenge when we get out to South Africa.”
While encouraging his players to enjoy their success responsibility, he implored them to not repeat previous missteps.
“Yeah, it’s important that we’re not talking about that, absolutely! It’s hard to win Test matches, it’s hard to win Test series… enjoy it and celebrate it, but in a sensible grown-up way.”
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at Cricinfo
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