Masterful Root best in business
The rankings are yet to update at the time of writing but after two masterful centuries at Lord’s – his third and fourth this year – Joe Root’s lead at the top will only have increased. Right now, utterly glowing with form, he is the best in the business.
Although stating this will doubtless see “right now” ignored by some, with statistical shortcomings, such as the lack of a century in Australia, cited. Comparisons with the other members of the “Fab Four” – Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson – usually follow, too, with England’s busier schedule somehow counting against Root.
That “Fab Four” term was coined by Martin Crowe 10 years ago, the late New Zealand great picking out the players he felt were destined for big things at the time due to their “similar talent, hunger, ambition and responsibility”. It also came with a prediction that a game of musical chairs at the top of the rankings would follow.
But while a fun talking point – and probably a nice crown to wear – the rankings don’t actually matter much either. Sit back and enjoy each of them then next time they walk out because the actual fun comes in simply watching them operate.
Lawrence needs to catch the eye
Despite two wins from two as stand-in captain, Ollie Pope finds himself at the centre of a debate regarding his suitability at No 3. The numbers can be massaged in either direction, although it is the right-hander’s challenge on off stump – a bat that is currently being jammed down at angle – that will ultimately settle it.
The Oval Test was traditionally a chance for players to stake their claim for a spot on the winter tours in the past and with Zak Crawley set to return in Pakistan after his broken finger, Dan Lawrence will be as desperate as Pope for a score. Bazball was brought in to reduce the focus on outcomes but it can only go so far.
The issue for Lawrence is doing so from opener, where a couple of thirties in Manchester were followed by two single-figure outings. One would hope that having set a middle order player something of a fool’s errand after 17 Tests of carrying the drinks, the selectors will factor in his unfamiliarity with the role.
Lawrence has not yet been a Surrey player for a full season but along with runs, one of the reasons for his switch from Essex could help his cause here. Those whirly-gig off-breaks may be fodder for the meme-merchants online but 15 batters in this season’s County Championship have not seen the funny side. The key, having sent down just two overs in the series so far, will be catching Pope’s eye.
Stone offers glimpse of potency
Two players may have eclipsed the other 20 at Lord’s but beyond Root’s historic hundreds and Gus Atkinson’s Ian Botham impersonation came an encouraging display from a member of the support cast. After waiting 1,173 days to turn three Test caps into four, Olly Stone gave England another glimpse of his potency.
Figures of four for 126 may not leap off the page in years to come but neither will they tell the full story. Across the two innings Stone was a shock weapon for his captain, not least a four-over burst before lunch on a docile day four surface that cleaved out the previously comfortable Dimuth Karunaratne with a brutish lifter.
Stone is more than just his brisk pace, having developed a touch more movement with the red ball despite three injury-hit years in which short-form specialism could have easily proved tempting. Back it up at the Oval and trips to Pakistan and New Zealand – countries where trump cards may well be needed – should follow.
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Sri Lanka fail to help themselves
After pushing England hard at Old Trafford, things rather unspooled for Sri Lanka at Lord’s and, in a one-sided summer, with the day-four crowd sparse, it has prompted questions about the health of Test cricket. But for all the legitimate talk of a widening gap here, the tourists did not exactly help themselves either.
Firstly, Dhananjaya de Silva’s decision to bowl first under blue skies was predicated on what he subsequently admitted was a negative. “Our top order was struggling in the last match,” the Sri Lanka captain said. “I needed to give them a break and see what the pitch was doing, and then we’d have a bat.”
And then there is the makeup of their attack, which is one seamer lighter than their hosts – oh for even Angelo Mathews to be able to send down some of his wobblers – and also saw Vishwa Fernando hastily dropped despite 17 wickets at 13 for Yorkshire this season. On day one, after reducing England to 216 for six, the three chosen quicks ran out of gas … and then ran into Gus.
Batting-wise, Sri Lanka’s one in-form player, Kamindu Mendis, has also been stationed down at No 7 (eight in their second innings at Lord’s), while Nishan Madushka keeping wicket for 102 overs and then opening appeared – and duly proved to be – a cheap early wicket waiting to happen.
Poignant week celebrating Thorpe
It will be a poignant week in London for England’s cricketers. A perfect home Test summer is up for grabs at the Oval but on Wednesday, two days out from the final instalment, comes a link back to the last England team to achieve the feat when players and staff attend the funeral of Graham Thorpe after training.
Thorpe did not make the cut for the 2005 Ashes but his role in shepherding that side to the cusp of that technicolor summer was significant. Across the seven straight wins against New Zealand and West Indies 12 months earlier he scored 523 runs at an average of 65; a sounding board in the ranks but a valuable contributor with it.
Since his death last month at the age of 55, Thorpe has rarely been far from the team’s thoughts, with Root dedicating the first of his Lord’s hundreds to their former batting coach. Wednesday will be tough for all but as per the request from Thorpe’s family, whose strength has been an inspiration, it will also be a celebration.