Joe Root says England have learned in chaotic conditions and are "well placed" going into the winter tour of South Africa after he led his side to their first-ever home whitewash of Pakistan. Root (62no) and No 3 batter Jordan Cox (59no) put on a 128-run partnership that led England to an eight-wicket victory in the third Test at Edgbaston, bringing a positive end to a tumultuous summer that has seen a change in head coach, a new captain and numerous off-field issues make headlines. The captain lauded his team's professionalism and work ethic and praised their ability in the face of outside noise on the way to their comprehensive series win.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "I think we're in a better place than we were, definitely," Root said. "Just having gone through [a tumultuous summer], I think you learn in chaos. "You learn a lot about the group of players that you have, and for us to have come through this series as we have done, the way that we've gone about our cricket has been really pleasing, and as I say, [we want to] be a continuation of that now.
"In terms of everything that we've been through over the the last little while, for us to now be able to have the clarity and come through the other side of chaos, I think is a a really important part. "You can only deal with what's in front of you, right? And once once everything unfolded how it did, it was how we responded to that, and that was the most important thing.
And I think the group have done that brilliantly. A satisfied Root reflected on what turned into a challenging third Test for England after a heroic 81 off 63 from Pakistan youngster Razaullah on day three left England with a target to chase, claiming that Pakistan's resurgence will benefit his side in the long term: "The fact that we've been able to start that journey and win a series in the manner that we have done has been really pleasing. "We've had things go our way throughout the series.
We had a little bit of pushback yesterday [from Pakistan] which, in a strange way, was quite a good thing for the group. "Fair play to Razaullah, he made things difficult for us. He played some wonderful shots and made it very difficult to set fields to.
He struck the ball nicely - I don't know how he didn't pull a muscle, swinging the bat that hard. "But for us to come through that and be so convincing in the way we've finished the series - throughout the whole three games - has been really pleasing. "We were clinical towards the back end there, a big partnership to see us home.
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