Roooot! What a player

Not too many cricket fans on here maybe, but what a fantastic matchwinning innings from Joe Root. A true great. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Don’t watch any cricket, but I’m always interested in the scores and outcome for England. As you say a great result and badly needed for the team after a really bad run …… he he

And another good one from Bairstowe and the new guy this afternoon.

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Wow. How fitting that Root and Bairstow get the final say in a highly entertaining series of Test matches. Rough justice on NZ in a way, but hats off to New England. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Best test match in years, T20 is for the low attention span yoof. More of this !

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The thing about this whole test series seems to be about having applied a T20/one day ‘mind set’ and approach to the 5 day game. In days gone by a ramp shot in a test match would probably see the player dropped from the next match!! I exaggerate (slightly) for comedic effect but the point remains, I think, that there has been a sea change in approach with the new captain and coach.

It’s certainly made the game more exciting - not for the ‘traditional’ cricket purists, perhaps, but the crowds are certainly enjoying the show. A series white wash suggests that (for now) it’s working and the whole team (maybe Crawley excepted?) appears to be enjoying a really positive environment.

Should be interesting to see if/how it works against India.

I bet Geoff Boycott hates it :joy:

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OK, final post. But WTF?? Is nothing beyond these two? It’s like dads v lads at the park. Feckin brill! :love_you_gesture::slightly_smiling_face:

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Why last? There’s always room for more. :joy: :slightly_smiling_face:

But, your point/question is an excellent one - Root and Bairstow made a daunting run chase look almost routine, despite some excellent, aggressive (if, IMHO, questionable) bowling from Bumrah. There seems to be no hesitation or trepidation from England’s top order batsmen in taking the game to the opposition rather than ‘steadying the ship’ or playing a long game, and I imagine that there’s an added psychological benefit to that approach.

I’ve no idea what the Bairstow - Kohli thing was about but the gulf in their visual appearances immediately after the winning single was made, told a story all of its own.

Yet again the highlight, for me, was the Root ramp shot for 6 - that one stroke summed up the whole game.