Joe Root dedicates 33rd Test ton to former mentor Graham Thorpe

England batter Joe Root dedicated his Test century against Sri Lanka to his former mentor, Graham Thorpe who tragically, took his own life earlier this month. With this ton, he also managed to equal his former teammate Alastair Cook’s record of the most tons scored by an Englishman in Test cricket with 33.

Root was dismissed by Sri Lanka’s Milan Rathnayake on 143, but his knock managed to take the hosts to a good total of 358/7 at the end of the first day’s play.

“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,” said Root after scoring a century on Day 1.

“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,” Root added.

Root went down memory lane and recalled the influential role that Thorpe played in his international career.

“The first time I came across him was a second-team game at Stamford Bridge for Yorkshire against Surrey. 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, utilizing 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,” Root added.

The post Joe Root dedicates 33rd Test ton to former mentor Graham Thorpe appeared first on Cricket Country.