England v India: Joe Root demands improvements after heavy defeat at Trent Bridge

Joe Root called on England’s batsmen to learn from the efforts of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes as they look to recover from a 203-run defeat in the Third Test at Trent Bridge.

The final day lasted just 17 balls, with Ravi Ashwin dismissing Jimmy Anderson in his first over to bowl England out for 317, a vast improvement on their first-innings 161, which saw them lose all 10 wickets in a session on the second afternoon.

Fans were able to see the conclusion of the match free of charge after a U-turn by Nottinghamshire this morning. The county faced a backlash last night when they confirmed plans to charge £10 (£5 for juniors) for entry. They announced before play that fans would be allowed in for free and those who had already paid would receive a refund.

England still lead the series 2-1 with two to play, beginning at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton next Thursday.

“We are still in the driving seat,” said captain Root. “We have to keep remembering that. We have time away to reflect on what’s been a difficult week. We are a very good side at bouncing back after a tough couple of days. I am fully expecting the guys to come back at Southampton refreshed and ready to go.”

That the game went into the final day was largely down to the fifth-wicket partnership of 169 between Stokes and Buttler, who made an emotional maiden Test century. Both men played against type in batting more than 50 overs and Root believes England must learn from this if they are to stop collapsing.

Sunday’s collapse was the third time in 24 Tests that they have lost 10 wickets in a session, something they had not done between 1938 and 2016. England held a team meeting on Sunday evening, where their frustrations were aired.

“We underperformed in the first innings,” added Root. “In the second innings, the partnership between Buttler and Stokes was admirable and a lesson in how to play Test cricket. We have to look at that, and adapt our games individually in Southampton.

“We spoke honestly about how we are going to get this right. It’s not good enough in this format and well below par for this group of players even in bowler friendly conditions. We can nitpick around other areas but that first innings was very poor. One thing that has come from this game is looking at this partnership is a great lesson is how to play in Test cricket.”

Root emphatically backed Alastair Cook, who is averaging 19 this year, to come good, saying: “I quite like him to be written off because every time he’s written off he comes back and scores a double-hundred.”

England have confirmed that Lancashire’s Buttler and Keaton Jennings would play in the Vitality Blast quarter-final at Canterbury tomorrow. Stokes will not play for Durham against Sussex on Friday because he is nursing a sore knee.

Virat Kohli, the India captain, dedicated his team’s win to the victims of the floods in Kerala, saying: “We as a team want to dedicate this win to the flood victims in Kerela. A tough time there, and this is our bit that we can do. The win was much-needed in this series and in context, and to have done so well in all departments is a victory for the entire dressing room.”

With so little play expected on the final day, Nottinghamshire performed a last-minute backflip, throwing the gates open rather than charging £10 per adult as they were still doing last night. They had sold 2,000 tickets for the day months in advance but opted to refund these given the day could have been over in just one ball.

“We’ve slept on the day five pricing policy &, frankly, we got it wrong,” tweeted the county’s official Twitter account @TrentBridge a couple of hours before play began at 11am. “All current ticket holders will be refunded & admission will be free on the gate with donations collected for charity.”

Trent Bridge, who missed out on an Ashes Test in 2019 or 2023 despite being a favourite ground of players and punters, have been handed a particularly tough sell with this Test, which was the first Saturday start in England since 1955. The first three days were sold out which, given the third was a Monday, was a fine effort.