Root Dedicates Historic Century to Graham Thorpe: It was an emotional day for Joe Root. The English talisman leveled the record of most tons in red-ball cricket for England with his 33rd hundred. Coming into this match he was just one shy of former England skipper Alastair Cook. Against Sri Lanka, with the power of his 143, England rose from the canvas to reach 358/7 on the opening day of the second Test at the legendary Lords. England were at 130/4 at one point of time.
But what overwhelmed Root was not his record-breaking ton, but the demise of his friend and mentor Graham Thorpe. Thorpe ended his life earlier this month.
Joe Root Dedicates Historic Century to Graham Thorpe
After hitting the century, Root pointed at the sky to dedicate his century to Thorpe. After completing day 1, Root was full of words about his mentor.
“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,”
“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.”
Thorpe had a huge hand in Root’s evolution as a star batter. Joe Root remembers the first time their path was crossed. It was a ‘second-team game at Stamford Bridge for Yorkshire against Surrey’ in 2010. Thorpe had seen something in Root. Maybe, that might be the reason why he went on to pick Root for the Lions in the County Championship the following year when Root didn’t have even a single first-class hundred.
“The first time I came across him was a second-team game at Stamford Bridge for Yorkshire against Surrey [in 2010],” Root said. “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.
Thorpe became Root’s mentor quickly. He pushed him hard and trained him to bat better at different conditions. Well, this worked well though. Currently, Root is just 198 runs away from becoming England’s top run-scorer in the Test.
“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 recalled.
There was Thorpe’s hand when Root made his debut in England. It was in Nagpur India in 2012. Thorpe became England’s batting coach the next year, a move that became a key in Root’s career. Not only Root had someone to give him valuable batting tips, but also a mentor to go up and talk to, when things used to not go his way. This relieves a lot of pressure from your shoulder.
“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.
Root at the end, thanked his late friend.
“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 defended the England stand-in captain Ollie Pope for his dip in form in the series.
“It’s so easy to make it something when it isn’t at all,” Root said defending Pope when asked about the added burden on him of having to lead the side in Ben Stokes’s injury-forced absence. “He seems to be in a really good place with it. That’s more of a storyline for [the media] to play around with. For him, it’s business as usual, go out there and play in the manner that has given him so much success.”
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