Support truly
independent journalism
Joe Root may have been labelled ‘grandad’ by Harry Brook but he insists England’s vibrant young Test team makes him feel more like Peter Pan.
Root was once the side’s cheeky young insurgent but, after a dozen years and 144 caps, he is now the elder statesmen of the group.
At 33 he is still younger than both Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, both of whom lined up in the five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, but since James Anderson’s retirement earlier this summer nobody comes close to Root for international experience.
He showed all of his savvy to manage a tricky chase in the first Test in Manchester, grinding out an unbeaten 62 to hunt down 205 on a stubborn surface.
Joining him in the winner’s huddle were relative novices Shoaib Bashir, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Matthew Potts – a quartet with 22 appearances between them. When the squad reconvenes at Lord’s on Tuesday, uncapped 20-year-old Josh Hull will be standing in for the injured Wood.
“They don’t get younger do they?” said Root, after sealing England’s fourth straight win of the summer.
“Those guys they keep you young more than anything. In this job you can be a bit like Peter Pan, you never really have to grow up; you just think you’re the same age as the guy you’re batting with or the blokes around you.
I still feel pretty young and I feel like there's a lot of cricket left in me.— Joe Root
“I think the really nice thing about it is we all get on really well with each other, even if we do take the mick out of each other.
“Brooky was calling me grandad the other day…I mean 33 is a good effort to be a grandad! It was so funny, he was chasing me in the field saying ‘don’t let me catch you’ as if we were playing a village game. That’s what you want, for it to be fun and to have a laugh out there.
“It’s nice to forget that there’s a bit on the line and you can just enjoy it, and we were able to do that which is a really good place to be.
“I still feel pretty young and I feel like there’s a lot of cricket left in me.”
As well as taunting his Yorkshire team-mate, 25-year-old Brook had a new role in Manchester as vice-captain to stand-in skipper Ollie Pope.
Root led England 64 times between 2017 and 2022 – more than anyone else in the role – and is delighted to see others pick up the mantle with Ben Stokes on the injured list.
“I think they did really well. It’s great to see young lads stepping up and taking those responsibilities on and doing a really good job,” he said.
“I offer what I can and every now and again you chip in, but it’s everyone’s team and they’re the future of it. They’re very smart young lads, they know the game really well, they’re gaining lots of experience all the time and they’re taking the team in a really good direction.”
England are expected to continue blooding new talent when they announce their white-ball squads to take on Australia next month.
After the sacking of limited-overs head coach Matthew Mott, further change could be in the air with Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali waiting to find out if they have a future.
Bairstow, a key part of the 2019 World Cup winning side, was dropped from the Test team at the start of the summer, with director of cricket Rob Key suggesting that his form was trending downwards across all formats. If he misses out this time, the 34-year-old may have played for England for the final time.
Moeen has been vice-captain to Jos Buttler in recent years but at 37, he has acknowledged his international career is winding down. Warwickshire’s Barbados-born all-rounder Jacob Bethell is set to receive his first call-up and could take up the mantle as a second spin option.
