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Joe Root said that his side England needs to learn some hard lessons after losing the two-match series against New Zealand. Neil Wagner and Matt Henry took three wickets each as England was bundled out for 122 in the second innings, and in the end, New Zealand won the second Test on Day Four comfortably by eight wickets at Edgbaston, Birmingham as they reclaimed the top spot in ICC Test rankings.

Joe Root Admits Having Been Outplayed In All Three Departments Particularly The Batting Which Was Poor In The 2nd Innings

England’s batters from No. 3 to No. 7 scored just 59 runs between them in the second innings while in the first Daniel Lawrence – with an unbeaten 81 – scored more than three times as many runs as the other four middle-order batsmen combined.

The difference was that openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley were dismissed for single figures in the second innings – Rory Burns, England’s leading run-scorer for the series with 238 at 59.50, fell for a duck – exposing England’s middle-order frailties before tea on the third afternoon.

“It’s been a frustrating and disappointing performance this week. I don’t think we’ve given a fair account of ourselves. We’ve been outplayed in all three departments, particularly the batting. We didn’t get the runs in the first innings.

“We missed chances in the field and didn’t help our bowlers in that respect. And with the bat in the second innings, we were poor,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Joe Root as saying.

Rory Burns in action (Reuters) (Action Images via Reuters)

“Sometimes in Test cricket, you can have a poor session with the ball and you’re still very much in the game. But a session that like can cost you a Test. That’s where we find ourselves. It’s cost us the series and we have some hard lessons to learn. We have to look at where we can get better individually and collectively. We need to be honest about that. We have to have some hard conversations and move forward,” Joe Root added.

No England batter was able to stay at the crease for a long time in the second innings and as a result, the hosts were bundled out for 122. For the Kiwis, Matt Henry and Neil Wagner scalped three wickets each.

Joe Root: It Would Be The Wrong Time To Start Panicking As Every Single Batsman Has Proven They Can Score Big Test Runs

Zak Crawley is having a poor run as he averaged a mere 8.75 against Sri Lanka, 16.75 against India, and 5.25 against New Zealand in the ongoing Test series, but is still being persisted with. Rory Burns, despite his 132 and 81 in the two Tests, averaged a mere 5 against Pakistan and 14.5 against India in the two preceding series. Dominic Sibley’s average hasn’t been above 35 in any of the series against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, and New Zealand.

Joe Root, the captain of the side managed only 97 runs averaging a mere 24.25 in stark contrast to Rory Burns who managed 238 runs averaging 59.5. Dominic Sibley managed 103 runs averaging 34.33. Daniel Lawrence managed 81 runs averaging 40.5.

“We have to front up, look to get better and learn some hard lessons sometimes. We’ve all underperformed this week. But we have to be constructive. I think every single one of those guys has proven they can score big Test runs.

“I think it would be the wrong time to start panicking and trying to rip up all the hard work we’ve done for such a long period of time. It’s something that historically we’ve done going into big tournaments and big Test series and it’s made things even worse,” said Joe Root.

“There’s a huge desire to keep getting better as a team. We know there’s talent and ability in the group. Sometimes you really learn about a group of players, going through a difficult period like this. We have had a poor week, a poor series, and have got to front up to that. But it doesn’t make them bad players.

“There’s been a lot of talk about technique and batting. My view is batting is very much an individual thing. There’s no right or wrong way of doing it. Look at the best players in the world: they all have different methods of how they play. How they stand, their bat paths, where they score their runs,” Joe Root added.

Talking about his own form, Joe Root said: “As the leading run-scorer within our squad currently I feel like I’ve put a lot of pressure on those guys by not performing myself. As a captain, you pride yourself on getting big runs and leading from the front and I’ve not managed to follow through on that. So I’ve probably compounded that situation slightly.”

England will now lock horns against India in the longest format as both these teams will play five Tests against each other, beginning August 8.

New Zealand 388 (Young 82, Conway 80, Taylor 80, Broad 4-48) and 41 for 2 (Latham 23*) beat England 303 (Lawrence 81*, Burns 81, Boult 4-85) and 122 (Wood 29, Wagner 3-18, Henry 3-36) by eight wickets