Root: Headingley victory shouldn’t ‘paper over the cracks’

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England Joe Root took pride in the way his fought back after a difficult week to win the second Test against Pakistan at Headingley but does not want the performance to “paper over the cracks” that still exist in the team.

The hosts beat the tourists by an innings and 55 runs to force a draw din the two-match series after Pakistan had convincingly won at Lord’s a week earlier.

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The victory in Yorkshire was England’s first victory in the longest format nine games and the Root feels the still have some way to go to fox all their problems.

The England Test skipper said: “I asked the guys to play with pride and passion and you saw that on the field. I think there is an element of that that comes out through criticism.

“To play for such a long time at this level like our senior guys have, you need to have that. They need to make sure they harness everything that they did leading into this game.

“It’s very important we don’t paper over the cracks and think this is going to be us [fixed] for ever – we have to make sure we don’t find ourselves in those positions like last week.”

After the humiliating defeat at the Home of Cricket questions were asked about the position of coach Trevor Bayliss, but Root was having none of it.

Root said about the coach: “Trevor is the easy target when the side is losing. It would have been very easy for the whole group to get tense and have a negative feel but Trevor’s experience pulled us through.

“You saw it on the field, the energy the guys had. The confidence after that great start was there all week and that is a big thing for the team moving forward.”

England now have a bit of a break in the longest format before a massive five-match Test series at home against India starts in August.

England Joe Root Pakistan tour to England and Ireland

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