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Former England captain Nasser Hussain has urged Joe Root to improve his slip-catching, keeping in mind how crucial it will be in the Ashes. Hussain feels England could be in trouble if Root puts down chances of players like Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
Root, who peeled off twin centuries in the second Test against Sri Lanka, struggled with his catching on Day 4. The Yorkshire cricketer put down multiple catches, though it didn't prove costly for the hosts as they won comfortably in the end.
In his column for The Daily Mail, the 56-year-old wrote:
"Sri Lanka, like West Indies, do not play a lot of Test cricket, but as we move into the final Test of the summer this week, England have done enough against the pair to suggest they are positioning themselves nicely for the Australian challenge."
"However, although Root’s batting was it its superlative best, for someone with such high standards, there is one thing he must improve on — his catching. He put down multiple chances here. Drop Steve Smith or Marnus Labuschagne and it could be Ashes gone," Hussain added.
Joe Root went to the top of England's Test-century tally (leaving behind Alastair Cook) as he struck his 34th in the second innings at Lord's. With 2,022 runs, he also overtook Graham Gooch (2,015) for most runs at Lord's. Additionally, the ex-captain completed 200 catches in Test cricket.
"Conditions on Sunday were hot and dry" - Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain was also impressed by England's bowling attack, given they managed to take Sri Lanka's 20 wickets on a largely unresponsive surface. In the same column, he continued:
"Conditions on Sunday were hot and dry, the pitch was pretty flat and there wasn’t a lot of spin, or a lot of swing. It is on days like these your bowling attack. Sri Lanka have a pretty decent batting line-up, so for an England side without Stuart Broad or Jimmy Anderson to twice bowl out the opposition on this Lord’s pitch was a seriously good effort."
England will look for a 3-0 series sweep against Sri Lanka in the third and final Test, beginning on September 6 at The Oval.
