London: Joe Root dedicated his record-equalling 33rd Test hundred to his former batting mentor late Graham Thorpe, who died earlier this month at the age of 55.
Root smashed his 33rd Test hundred on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday at Lord’s to go level with England legend Alastair Cook for the most Test centuries by an Englishman.
The former captain pointed to the skies after reaching the century and paid tribute to Thorpe. “I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of people, whether it be senior players, coaches, mentors, and Thorpey was one of those people who offered me so much,” he was quoted by Cricbuzz.
“It was nice to be able to think of him (Thorpe) in that moment. He’s someone I’m sorely going to miss, and who I owe a lot to. He put a lot into my game, into my career, and without his help I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now,” he added.
Thorpe, who took his own life, was suffering from depression and anxiety, which according to his family at times got very severe. His illustrious career saw him represent England in 100 test matches.
“The first time I came across him was a second-team game at Stamford Bridge for Yorkshire against Surrey (in 2010). The following year, I made my way into the County Championship team and he was involved with the England Lions. Before I’d even made a hundred at first-class level, he picked me for a Lions game against Sri Lanka at Scarborough,” Root recalled.
“He saw something with me, and pushed hard for me to go away that winter and worked with him. We worked tirelessly on my game against spin – being able to get close to the ball, get away from it, utilising different sweeps – and also against pace… working very hard to make sure that those areas of the game which are different to county cricket, you are up to speed with,” the former England captain added.
Root made his debut in England’s 2012 tour of India in Nagpur, a move advocated by Thorpe who went on to become England’s batting coach in limited-overs cricket and guided the best England men’s talent to some incredible victories across all formats of the game.
“You’re always having to evolve as a player, and you need people that you can bounce ideas off, people that can take pressure off you in different ways, and know how to talk to you when things aren’t going well – and also when they are going well. I was very lucky to have someone like him… he was the one guy that was constant throughout that 10, 11, 12-year period.
“I could go to him under pressure, and I have a really good understanding of my own game and it evolved into more: I became good friends, and I really enjoyed spending a lot of time with him. It was nice to pay a small tribute. It’s nothing, but he means a lot to me – and that was a small thank you,” Root said.
In the match, Root, who walked in to bat at 42/2, scored 143 to help England pile on 358 for 7 against Sri Lanka. In the process, he almost levelled with the number of hundreds India great Sachin Tendulkar had before turning 34 (35 Test hundreds), as per ICC stats.
Root only recently scored his 12,000th Test run to become the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time and the 33-year-old has second-placed Ponting and Tendulkar’s overall record within sight.
–IANS
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