Joe Root’s Message Hits Home as England Eye Series Win

Published On 27 Aug, 2026
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The first-test victory by an innings and 103 runs marked the start of Joe Root’s second stint as test captain but ​he was seething when addressing the media on Tuesday following another embarrassing disciplinary breach.

Root said he was “hacked ​off” after videos on social media appeared to show England fast bowler Brydon Carse ⁠in handcuffs being spoken to by police officers on Saturday outside a nightclub in Derby.

He was subsequently dropped ​from the squad for the second test.

Fast bowler Josh Tongue said Root’s firm talk had resonated with the players.

“It ​was a chat that was needed, a very good chat from Rooty,” the 28-year-old Tongue told reporters on Wednesday.

“He’s been around the England dressing room for plenty of years now, he knows what it takes to be the top professional and I think ​we’ve just got to do the best we can moving forward.

“I think we’ve just got to make sure we’re ​as professional as we can be. Obviously things have happened and we need to try and move on from them to ‌show ⁠all the youngsters growing up wanting to play for England that it’s an amazing place to be,” Tongue added.

OFF-FIELD ILL-DISCIPLINE

England have won three and lost six of their nine tests since last October — a period marked by ill-discipline off the pitch including white-ball captain Harry Brook fined £30,000 ($41,000) for an altercation with a bouncer in Wellington, and reports ​of a booze-fuelled mid-series break ​during the Ashes in ⁠Noosa.

Former test captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson broke a curfew after the first test win over New Zealand this year and were dropped for the next match.

Victory ​at Lord’s would help turn the focus back on cricket and England will be ​strong favourites ⁠as they are likely to field an unchanged team from Headingley.

Tongue and Ollie Robinson took eight wickets apiece in the first test as Pakistan’s batting crumbled but Root is expecting a sterner test with the touring side hopeful that captain ⁠Babar ​Azam will return from a finger injury.

“We know the individual brilliance ​that lies within that team and what Pakistan are capable of collectively,” he said. “We also know that whenever we play anyone at Lord’s, they ​generally raise their game. This (England) group won’t be taking anything for granted.”