"I was very lucky to have him" Joe Root dedicates Lord's hundred vs Sri Lanka to Graham Thorpe

Joe Root equalled former captain Alastair Cook’s tally of 33 test centuries.

After collecting a boundary towards third-man to bring up his 33rd test century, which put him side by side with Sir Alastair Cook for most test hundreds by an Englishman, Joe Root looked up and pointed to the skies to pay tribute to his long-term batting mentor Graham Thorpe, who died earlier this month.

55-year-old Thorpe, one of England’s finest test batsmen, took his own life and was found dead after being struck by a train at Esher railway station in Surrey.

In his role as a mentor and batting coach, Thorpe worked with several players in the current England team set-up. He particularly had a role in Root’s ascension when the Yorkshire batsman was a youngster.

It was nice to be able to think of him in that moment: Joe Root

Root dedicated his century at Lord’s in the ongoing second test against Sri Lanka to Thorpe.

The 33-year-old said, “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 that offered me so much.”

“It was nice to be able to think of him in that moment. He’s someone that I’m going to sorely miss. He put a lot into my game, into my career, and without his help I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Thorpe had encouraged Root’s selection for England’s tour to India in 2012, where he debuted in the last test of the series.

Root added, “From that point onwards, we worked together. He became England’s white-ball batting coach, and then obviously in the Test team as well. I worked so hard at a number of different things. I was very lucky to have someone like him… he was the one guy that was constant throughout that 10, 11, 12-year period.“

Root’s 143 and Gus Atkinson’s 74* have put England in a strong position at stumps on day 1. The hosts have piled up 358/7.

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