Root addresses off-field nightclub incident ahead of second Test with Pakistan
Joe Root spoke at a press conference before the second Test against Pakistan a couple of days after England’s win at Headingley, addressing frustration at having to discuss an off-field nightclub incident involving Brydon Carse rather than the cricket.
The episode echoed a similar situation earlier in the summer when Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were involved in a nightclub incident between the Lord’s Test and the second Test against New Zealand, prompting Rob Key to say: “I’m angry, frustrated at having to sit here and talk through this.” Two months and four days separated the two press conferences, a span in which England lost the New Zealand series, and lost a coach and a captain.
Root said since the squad reassembled in London he had led “conversations about what is expected from this group of players, what it means to play for England, what it takes to play for England … a very robust discussion about where we currently sit”. He added: “I think there’s real clarity there, and now the guys can concentrate on focusing on what is important this week, and making sure we prepare properly and diligently for all the challenges that this surface and Pakistan are going to provide.”
The need for further behavioural instruction came after a series of off-field incidents that the article lists: Harry Brook’s run-in with a bouncer in Wellington; the first Ashes Test followed by a squad-break‑cum‑stag‑do in Noosa; Brendon McCullum’s pledge to “use a firm grip to ensure that we are not making those same mistakes again”; and Stokes’s and Atkinson’s night at Chelsea’s Rex Rooms.
Graham Gooch’s historical quip to Ian Botham — “Who writes your scripts?” — was invoked as a measure of the recycling of these off-field storylines, while Rob Key was observed watching the team train at Lord’s “all smiles” despite the need for Root to lead a team discussion. Root said of that task: “I don’t think it has to be rocket science.”
On responsibility he said: “It’s being clear what your responsibilities are as a player and then delivering on that time and time again.” Root, more than 15 years after his Test debut and with Stephen Fleming about to become the eighth interim or permanent coach under whom he has played, declined to dwell on past failures, saying: “I don’t want to get caught up in digging up what’s happened before. My concern is what happens moving from this point. It’s not something you want to forget about in a week’s time, or six months’ time. This is something that we want to live and breathe every day and that’s what my focus is on. I don’t think it’s going to be helpful talking about what happened in that last period.”
Root said he had used the word “proud” repeatedly during his remarks and reflected on his own future: “I don’t know how long I’m going to play Test cricket for. It sounds a bit of a cliche, but you want to leave the dressing room in a better place than where you found it. Well, this is the opportunity that lies ahead and we have to start acting on that straight away.”
England will now prepare for the second Test against Pakistan, with Root insisting the squad can “concentrate on focusing on what is important this week, and making sure we prepare properly and diligently for all the challenges that this surface and Pakistan are going to provide.”