Live Cricket News: Following his spectacular, match-winning hundred, Joe Root strolled off the field, bat lifted, to the applause of the Lord’s crowd.
Given what had gone before, it was a unique moment for Root, who went on to discuss the “unhealthy influence” the captaincy – which he had surrendered just over two months earlier – had on his personal life.
Ben Foakes, the junior partner in the unbroken 120-run sixth-wicket stand that had helped achieve victory against New Zealand in a thrilling first Test, was a little distance back, allowing his former skipper to take his bow alone.
With five wickets remaining and only the bowlers to come, the Surrey wicketkeeper came in with England still firmly up against it, more than 100 runs from victory. Root’s brilliance, as well as Foakes’ efforts, contributed to them crossing the line so comfortably in the end.
Foakes is having a big summer. He has been a member of England’s travelling party for the 17/18 Ashes for the past five years. He hit a century on debut in Sri Lanka a year later, but he was never fully given the chance to establish himself as the Test side’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
In reality, the match at Lord’s was his first at home, as he had played all of his previous 11 Tests away from home.
Foakes’ status as a true gloveman has never been questioned. Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket and a former England wicketkeeper, has often said that the 29-year-old is the best wicketkeeper in the world behind the stumps.
When compared to Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, the guys for whom he has worked as an understudy at various moments over the years, he was viewed as the third of three with the bat. Given that they are both excellent goalkeepers, that was enough to give them the advantage.
But, with England committing to Bairstow as a frontline batter and Buttler being left to flourish in the shorter formats, for the time being, Foakes appears to be on his way to a regular spot in the XI.
On the West Indies tour, he did not exactly let the opportunity slip through his fingers, with exceptional sloppiness behind the stumps and an average of just 19.20 across six innings, four of which were played on the flattest of grounds.
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