JOE A NATURAL VAUGHAN WINNER
Skipper starts his testing year in style as England record comes into view
JOE ROOT has mentor Michael Vaughan firmly in his sights after a seven-wicket win in Galle put him just two away from the England captaincy record.
Jonny Bairstow and the impressive Dan Lawrence combined without fuss on the final morning to score the 36 more runs needed to give Root his 24th Test triumph as skipper.
Perhaps more importantly, it gave his side the perfect start to this most testing of years, where Root could finish up in Australia cementing his place not only as a great player but a truly great leader.
He joins former captains Sirs Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss in second on the list, with Vaughan’s tally of 26 Test successes in serious danger this winter if England continue their astonishing away form.
This was their fifth win in a row in Sri Lanka and their fourth successive overseas victory, something that has not been done since 1957.
And you can bet the team of the Fifties had more than a solitary day of preparation in New Zealand and South Africa before taking on those nations.
In addition to the lack of cricket and preparation, Root’s side are also without three of their first-choice players in Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns, while Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali were unavailable.
Even though Sri Lanka were truly abject on day one of this game, Root marshalled his resources perfectly to get the result they all wanted.
He said: “I’m really proud and pleased with the way we’ve started here and how we’ve gone about performing away from home recently.
“If you look back a couple of years our record away from home was very poor. For us to have really turned that round is testament to the group of players.
“Their dedication and the way they look at conditions and try to find ways of creating 20 chances as a bowling group and making big contributions and partnerships with the bat, it is
showing that we are improving all the time.
“We aren’t the finished article, we’ve a long way to go, we are making little errors here and there, but we are getting better and that’s seen by the results we are having. We are going in the right direction.
“And I don’t think you can ever be a finished article as a captain. I certainly don’t feel it’s the case with me. I will always look to improve and get better.”
Obviously the best captains usually have the best players and Root has got himself, Stokes and both Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson still going strong.
They are also the right people at the right time. Root is a modern man. Emotionally intelligent, collaborative and prepared to listen and learn. He is also not afraid to change his strategy and tactics to find a positive result.
A big early chase by the West Indies in 2017 has not scarred him. This
was the first overseas Test win Root had enjoyed where Stokes was not playing, illustrating that improvement and perhaps a bit more self-sufficiency and adaptability from his players.
The selections of Bairstow and Lawrence were unqualified successes, while the bowlers were generally decent improving with each spell.
“I didn’t know that,” said Root on Stokes’ influence. “It just shows what a great player he is and what an asset he is to English cricket, but also that we can find a way to win without him if necessary.
“It was a huge effort to win this game and it was a really impressive effort from the whole bowling group.”
I don’t think you can ever be a finished article as a captain