ENG vs IRE | Twitter laughs at Joe Root’s casual on-field awareness leaving Harry Brook dejected

06/03/2023

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Even great players lose their concentration when there is little purpose to play for at the highest level. Joe Root had one such moment at Lord’s when he did not even see the ball after it was hit by Mark Adair before Harry Brook’s excellent full-stretch dive saved him from embarrassment.

The four-day Test match between England and Ireland, projected as the warm-up game for Ben Stokes and Co. before the upcoming Ashes series, did not go as the hosts would have expected. The Irish side reached 327/7 in the second innings after being bundled out for 172 in the first, albeit England’s first-innings total of 524/4 was enough to avoid a shocking defeat. The Irish fightback was set by Andy McBrine and Mark Adair, who combined a counter-attacking 153-run stand for the seventh wicket to recover their side from 162/6.

During the fag end of their valiant partnership, a moment that drew a lot of attention happened during the 67th over of the innings. The fifth ball of that over bowled by Matthew Potts was pitched at the short length, and Adair, batting on 76 off 66 balls, played between the deep fine leg and the deep mid-wicket. Joe Root was there at the deep fine leg, and everyone thought he would have picked the ball and restricted the Irish to a single. However, the former England skipper did not even notice the ball was coming towards him, and Harry Brook, placed at the deep mid-wicket, had to run to his right quickly and put a sharp dive to save a certain boundary.

The replay soon confirmed it was well-stopped by Brook, but the youngster was not pleased to see Root making a school-boy error. Immediately after standing up on his feet, he seemed looking at Root saying he should have stopped the ball, and the netizens, unsurprisingly, did not overlook the entire incident between the two Englishmen.

Root is not in mood to field for England!

pic.twitter.com/B3FrrTgAHD
— Spider Rashid (@RashidSpider) June 3, 2023

He did his job so well!

Mark Adair is playing in Bazball style against Bazball's team. Sweet as.#ENGvIRE
— Ronald D Sampson (@rdsampson_25) June 3, 2023

England were rude to declare early yesterday!

Leach getting taken down by McBrine doesn’t bode well for him bowling at Head and Khawaja later in the summer #ENGvIRE
— Adam Hopkins (@AW23Hopkins) June 3, 2023

Great fight back!

#ENGvIRE This is a magnificent partnership from Ireland odds on England having to bat again have dropped dramatically.
— patrick o keeffe (@patokeeffe20) June 3, 2023

Yes! Yes!

Blimey, England may have to bat again. #ENGvIRE #Lords
— Tim Morris 🖖🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@Trekkygeek) June 3, 2023

Take a bow!

Fifty by Mark Adair, he gets his maiden Test fifty, in trail of 300+ runs against England. #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/J7WYScQx1K
— Resanth. (@CricResanth) June 3, 2023

Almost a win for them!