England batter Joe Root made an unusual comparison between his team and British band Coldplay following their eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the third Test at Kennington Oval, London. Despite winning the series 2-1, England was denied a clean sweep as Sri Lanka secured a dominant victory on Day 4, chasing down a target of 219 with Pathum Nissanka’s unbeaten 127 off 124 balls, which included 13 fours and two sixes. This marked England’s first loss in the home summer after previously whitewashing the West Indies 3-0 earlier in the season.
Root, reflecting on the defeat, acknowledged that the team did not perform at its best but reminded fans that consistency can be elusive. In an analogy to Coldplay, Root noted that even top performers are not always at their peak. “We are not always going to get it right all of the time,” Root said in an interview with BBC Test Match Special. “Coldplay can’t be number one every week. For 90% of the summer, we’ve shown what a good team we can be, but we didn’t play our best cricket this week.”
Despite the loss, Root had a standout series, finishing as the highest run-scorer for England. He amassed 375 runs from six innings at an average of 75, including two centuries and one half-century. For his outstanding performance, Root was named England’s Player of the Series, his sixth such award, surpassing James Anderson’s five to become the English player with the most Player of the Series accolades in Test cricket. Root was also named Player of the Summer, having accumulated 774 runs across ten innings, averaging 74 with three centuries and three fifties.
The summer was record-breaking for Root as he became England’s all-time leading century-maker in Test cricket with 34 centuries, surpassing former captain Alastair Cook’s tally of 33. Additionally, Root moved past legends like Mahela Jayawardene, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, and Kumar Sangakkara to become the sixth-highest run-scorer in Test history, with 12,402 runs from 146 matches.
Root’s exceptional form has positioned him as a key figure for England as they prepare for the upcoming three-match Test series against Pakistan, which begins on October 7. Eager to continue his prolific run with the bat, Root will be aiming to lead his team to further success in the coming fixtures.
