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Joe Root urged England to celebrate their Lord’s Test victory but remain sensible and grounded after the hosts sealed the series against Pakistan. Speaking after England’s 194-run win, Root stressed that the players should enjoy their success without allowing their celebrations to create further off-field problems.
England’s victory at Lord’s gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and their first multi-match Test series win since 2024. However, with several recent off-field incidents involving England players, Joe Root was keen to ensure the latest success was handled responsibly.
Joe Root urges England to celebrate Lord’s win in a sensible way
England completed a comprehensive victory at Lord’s to take a 2-0 lead against Pakistan. The result marked an important step for a side still developing under its new leadership structure, but Joe Root's message after the match was focused as much on what happened away from the cricket as what happened on the field.
The England skipper acknowledged that Test wins and series victories are difficult to achieve, but urged his teammates to celebrate without going overboard.
“It’s important we’re not talking about, absolutely. But it’s hard to win Test matches, it’s hard to win Test series, so enjoy it and celebrate it, but in a sensible, grown-up way. It’s been a really good start to, I don’t know what you want to call it, this new team,” Root said during the post-match media interaction at Lord’s.
Joe Root's comments came after a difficult period for English cricket away from the field. Harry Brook and Brydon Carse have both been involved in recent nightclub-related incidents, while Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes have also faced scrutiny over separate incidents.
Joe Root opens up on LBW struggles
Root endured another difficult Test with the bat, falling LBW in both innings at Lord’s. He was dismissed by Mohammad Abbas for four in the first innings before Mohammad Ali trapped him in front for 24 in the second.
The first dismissal came in the 11th over when Abbas delivered a length ball that moved back into Root and struck him above the knee roll. His second innings ended after 37 balls. Ali found the nip-backer that has troubled Root repeatedly, with the England batter only partially forward when the ball struck his front pad. Root reviewed the decision, but ball-tracking showed the delivery hitting the stumps.
The two dismissals meant Joe Root has now been dismissed LBW seven times in nine Test innings during England's 2026 summer. He has therefore equalled the record for most LBW dismissals by a batter in a Test season, having also been dismissed in this manner seven times during England's 2016-17 tour of Bangladesh and India.
Root, however, remained confident that he can solve the problem and insisted that several of his recent LBW dismissals have involved marginal decisions.
“I’ve always been quite good at understanding and eventually problem-solving. I’ll continue to keep working hard. I might have been lbw a few times, but lots of those have been umpire’s call – if they go the other way it might not be as much of a talking point. We’ve also seen the ball move more than it ever has. So there has to be a sense of calm and realism around things. I know I’m a good player, and I’d like to think there’s a big score around the corner,” Joe Root said.
We’re going to be a pretty hard team to break down - Joe Root
Despite the victory, Root believes England still have areas to improve before the third Test in Birmingham. He wants the team to continue adapting to different conditions and executing their plans with greater consistency.
Asked what he wanted to see from England in the final Test, Root highlighted the importance of maintaining the same approach while being flexible enough to respond to the conditions.
“I think more of the same and again, regardless of what the conditions are, making sure that we try and find the right method that’s going to suit that, whether it be with bat, with ball, understanding what’s required of us and being skillful enough to execute it. If we can keep adapting and evolving to those challenges, then we’re going to be a pretty hard team to break down,” Root stated.
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