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Joe Root paid tribute to the late Graham Thorpe after reaching a landmark 33rd Test hundred for England and admitted afterwards he owes much of his success to his former coach.
Root equalled Sir Alastair Cook’s record for the most Test centuries by an England batter on the opening day against Sri Lanka, pointing to the sky immediately after bringing up three figures.
While the Lord’s crowd celebrated a special innings, Root’s thoughts drifted to former England batter and assistant coach Thorpe, who died aged 55 earlier this month after taking his own life.
An emotional Root, whose 143 helped England close on 358 for seven at stumps in the second Test, said: “I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of people, whether it be senior players, coaches and mentors.
“He was one of those people who offered me so much and it was nice to be able to think of him in that moment. Someone I’m sorely going miss and who I owe a lot to. He put a lot into my game and my career.
“Without his help I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Root described how Thorpe, a classy left-hander who was capped 100 times in Tests by England and is widely considered one of his generation’s greatest batters, saw the potential in him very early on.
Root said: “Before I’d even made a hundred at first-class level he picked me for an England Lions game against Sri Lanka at Scarborough. He saw something with me and pushed hard for me to go away that winter and work with him.
“He pushed very hard for me to be involved in that India tour where I made my debut (in 2012) and from that point onwards we worked together.
“I was very lucky to have someone like him, along with others. He was the one guy who was constant throughout that 10, 11, 12-year period where I could go to him under pressure and he had a really good understanding of my game.
“It evolved into more than that, we became good friends and I really enjoyed spending a lot of time with him. It was nice to pay a small tribute. He means a lot to me and that was a small thank you.”
Root’s innings rescued England after Sri Lanka’s bold gamble to bowl first under clear blue skies on a blameless pitch almost paid off.
England slipped to 212 for six as a number of batters gifted their wickets away but Root’s fifth 50-plus score in seven innings this summer, allied to Gus Atkinson’s unbeaten Test-best 74, steadied the hosts.
“It’s nice to be sat here having achieved what I’ve achieved but I feel like there’s still quite a lot more to do,” Root said. “At some point I’m sure I’ll look back on it all and try to take it all in but more to come hopefully.”
While Root fell to his patented reverse ramp just before the second new ball was taken, Ollie Pope was earlier out for his third single-figure score since stepping in as captain for the injured Ben Stokes.
Pope admitted he had struggled to separate his batting and leadership duties last week, making two scores of six in an otherwise successful debut as skipper as England won the first of three Tests.
It's nice to be sat here having achieved what I've achieved but I feel like there's still quite a lot more to do— Joe Root
And his woes followed him to London in a tortured 10-ball stay for one as he was cramped for room and mistimed a pull to square-leg.
Root added: “I don’t think there’s anything for Ollie to worry about. He’s really continued to evolve and become one of our really exciting players who goes out and takes the game to the opposition.
“He should keep doing exactly what he’s doing. The fact he’s got out a couple of times, that can happen if he wasn’t captain.
“But you know someone like him with his talent ability and his mindset, it won’t be long before he scores a big score.”
