THE BESS IS YET TO COME
Young spinner shines as England respond to Root’s call for improvement, but there’s still a long way to go for England
THERE was no place like home for Joe Root thanks to a thumping win at Headingley and a reminder that no team does inconsistency as consistently as England.
A mixture of old and new saw the team respond to defeat at Lord’s with an emphatic innings and 55-run victory over Pakistan in Leeds, a reminder these are conditions in which where England can dominate.
Stuart Broad and James Anderson were to the fore with the ball, and they were ably supported by the team’s youthful exuberance.
Dom Bess and Sam Curran – on his 20th birhday – helped irresistible England to wrap up the game with more than two days to spare. Bess, in particular, shone.
After his 57 at Lord’s, the 20-year-old again impressed with bat and ball finishing with 49 runs and three wickets.
He said: “I was very relieved to get my Test wicket. It’s one of the best feelings you’ll ever have. I wasn’t too nervous when it got reviewed but I was surprised it was umpire’s call – I thought it was absolutely stone dead.”
For England, a week is a long time in cricket and Root was delighted with the turnaround in fortunes.
“Everything I asked for was delivered out on the field and you can’t ask for more as a captain,” said the Yorkshireman. “It was a very tough week last week for the group. We had to show a lot of character.
“I asked the guys to play with pride and passion and you saw that on the field.”
Jos Buttler put on a batting firework display in the morning to extend the lead, before the bowlers did their bit to dismiss Pakistan for just 134 and spark celebrations.
Root added: “I hope Jos gains so much confidence from these two weeks, and really uses it to move himself forward as a Test player, because we all know how talented he is. He’s in the side to try to take games away from the opposition as he did, and Sam and Dom have performed exceptionally.”
But despite the result that gave England a share of the spoils at 1-1, there was an air or realism around the same ground on which the West Indies broke records to win last year.
You could argue Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed got it wrong by deciding to bat first, while England’s improvement is what would be expected from a team that have had a run together. Had England batted first there is no doubt they would have found life just as tough against the swinging ball. But that is the game and from then on their confidence grew into a more complete performance. Root added: “It’s very important we don’t paper over the cracks and think this is going to be us sorted forever – we have to make sure we don’t find ourselves in those positions like last week. “We know we’re not the finished article, this is the first step towards our goal. It’s a pleasing week and I’m thrilled to bits.” The torn hamstring which kept Ben Stokes out of the Headingley Test will sideline him for Sunday’s one-dayer against Scotland and the first part of oneday series against the Australians which starts on June 13.