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Joe Root's England Diary: Olly Stone, seeing elephants up close and a controversial auction

"I was very impressed with Olly Stone. He was in control of what he was trying to do, bowled some brilliant lengths at good pace and caused a lot of problems."

Joe Root's ODI Diary

Joe Root talks about Olly Stone's brilliant start to his England career, Jos Buttler thinking clearly under pressure, getting up close with some elephants in Sri Lanka and a controversial football auction...

We arrived in Kandy on Sunday, it was about a three-hour drive from Dambulla. We got to see some nice scenery on our way through and it's nice to get here, we're staying in a beautiful hotel. I'm looking forward to staying here over the next week.

It is a beautiful country and there is so much great scenery around. Driving into the ground at Dambulla seeing elephants 50-100 yards away from the road in their natural habitat is remarkable. You have to pinch yourself a little and ask 'have I just seen that?', you would never expect to see that anywhere else.

England
Image: Some of the England players went on Safari in their down time in Sri Lanka

One of the really pleasing things about the performance in the second ODI was that we had some periods throughout the game where we were nowhere near our best but we still managed to find a way to win.

There was a good spell of bowling from Malinga and I thought Sri Lanka performed really well at the death with the ball and stopped us from getting near 300, which it looked like we would at one stage.

We still managed to hold our nerve, see out the innings and make a competitive total on that surface. The batting that we have down the order and how smart Morgs (Eoin Morgan) was and the guys were at making sure we got a game in once we got ahead was important.

Those early wickets were massive in the context of the match and getting ahead of Duckworth-Lewis. From that point on making sure we raced through those overs getting to that 20 over mark, making sure that we were really in control and that we got a result that evening was a big part of it.

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Eoin Morgan hails new-ball pair Chris Woakes and and Olly Stone and says England can improve after winning the second ODI against Sri Lanka

As I've said it is going to be really important to read situations, being really smart at certain parts of the tour and I thought we showed that in this game. Hopefully it is a good little learner for us and it is nice to get a win under our belt without performing anywhere near our best.

With Lasith (Malinga) he is very different to anyone else in cricket so regardless if you've seen him before it does take you a few balls to line him up. Even when he comes back for his second or third spell it is very different to the rhythm or natural angles of cricket you are used to facing.

He has always got that X-factor or something different that you have to be wary of and his slower ball has been very effective for a number of years. He has mastered the art of disguising it with his action.

He poses a threat and you just have to be really clear about how you are going to go about facing him. It is the responsibility of guys that have faced him before to pass all the knowledge to the guys that haven't and then it is on them to go out and find their own method and make sure they get on top so that we can dominate the game.

Lasith Malinga during the 2nd One Day International match between Sri Lanka and England at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Dambulla, Sri Lanka

His slower ball and yorker pose very different threats but they are both very potent and you saw that throughout the game. I do think one of our great strengths as a batting side over the last couple of years is when we have come up against something that we have not seen before, we very quickly adapt and learn and hopefully we can continue that trend.

I was very impressed with Olly Stone, for being his first game you would never have thought that watching him bowl. He was in control of what he was trying to do, bowled some brilliant lengths at good pace and caused a lot of problems.

He built pressure and that partnership between him and Woakesy (Chris Woakes), Woaksey took the majority of the wickets but between them they bowled exceptionally well with the new ball and got us well ahead of the game. It was a brilliant start to his career and hopefully he can take a huge amount of confidence from that.

As most guys do nowadays, he has fitted in very quickly with our team. He is a quiet guy, has a good sense of humour and gets on with everyone. It is really pleasing to see him come in and put in a really strong performance first time around.

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England new boy Olly Stone says bowling in tandem with Warwickshire team-mate Chris Woakes helped him in the second ODI against Sri Lanka.

I feel in a pretty good place with my batting and feel as though I have a good understanding of my role and how I am going to go about scoring my runs and read the situation. I figure things out in the middle and have done so for a while now.

It is amazing how quickly things turn around. If you look at the start of the summer, I had a tough series against Australia and very quickly in the space of four games things have changed drastically.

For me it is a reminder of how important it is to never get complacent and never get too down, to stay quite real with everything and understand that every time you go out on to the field it is an opportunity to try and build a score or chase one down and do everything you can to help your side win.

I don't agree with Shane Warne's comments but he is entitled to his opinions. He is a huge fan of Jos Buttler, as am I, he has spent a lot of time with him in Rajasthan.

Not everyone is going to say what you want to hear all the time. I am very clear about how I want to take this Test team forward, I think we made huge strides over the summer and playing in Sri Lanka in November is another opportunity to keep developing and growing as a team.

Joe Root (right) with Jos Buttler
Image: Joe Root (right) and Jos Buttler will play for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League (BBL) this winter

It is one of those things that you can do nothing about. It is up to people to make their own minds up about. A lot of the time in sport people say things and it is up to the public to make their own mind up about it. I am very comfortable in my position, I know where I want to take this team and I fully feel I am the right man to do that.

Jos has a very good understanding of the game, as Warnie said. He does think very cleverly about certain aspects of it. More than anything having had a go first time around and learning from that has definitely helped him.

Having the international experience of one-day and T20 cricket, going around the world and playing in different tournaments, being in those high-pressured situations on numerous occasions does help you think a lot more clearly under pressure and I think it is no coincidence why when he came back in straight away he was able to perform.

He has got a good understanding of his own game in white-ball cricket in particular and then transferred it into Test cricket. Not thinking that you have got to bat a certain way or a certain method but play to your strengths as much as possible and that is why he has had such a good summer.

He managed to do that consistently very well, that is the beauty of having him in the middle order and the way he has played throughout the summer shows just how flexible he can be in a number of situations.

Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson named this potential boyband 'Wrong Direction'
Image: Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson named this potential boyband 'Wrong Direction'

A few of the lads went on a Safari this week and they said they had a wonderful time. They got up close and personal with a herd of elephants, a few were quite gob-smacked with how close they got - and probably a bit nervous as well.

It is so nice to have the opportunity to do that here, to understand the culture and see the beauty of Sri Lanka - not just the cricket grounds and hotels. Jimmy named the picture of lads who went on the Safari as 'Wrong Direction' and I think that fits pretty well.

I didn't manage to get out much in Dambulla as I wanted to make sure I was ready for the game. The one day I did think of going out the forecast didn't look great so I didn't go but a few of the lads gambled and it didn't rain, so maybe I will be a bit braver next time! I'm looking forward to venturing out in a Kandy a little more over the next seven days.

I've been following Sheffield United's results and keeping tabs on how things are going. They are obviously playing some good football at the moment, they have been over the last few years under Chris Wilder.

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Highlights from the second ODI in Dambulla as Eoin Morgan's men continue their World Cup preparations against Sri Lanka.

We were in a similar position this time last year so hopefully the depth is there within the squad and the guys can continue to perform really well and stay at the top of the league.

The Championship is very competitive so they are going to have to play really well for long periods of time to be in contention at the end of the year but there is no reason if they keep playing as they are that they can't be.

Christmas and January will be crucial for us and hopefully we can carry on as we are and keep building the momentum. Depth in your squad with the amount of games and how quickly they come around, I'm not an expert on football but from what I gather it is quite important.

I'm in Australia for the Big Bash over Christmas so I won't have the chance to go and watch the Blades, which is a big shame. I try and go when I have the opportunity, they are always very hospitable when I go, but I will be following very closely throughout.

Mark Wood (left) and Ben Stokes (right) were on opposing scales for the England team's football auction
Image: Mark Wood (left) and Ben Stokes (right) were on opposing scales for the England team's football auction

On the topic of football, to pick our teams that play during training and warm-ups we had an auction, everyone was given a price bracket and then auctioned off. Ben Stokes was bottom of the time going for £1m - which was the lowest by about £7m!

Paul Farbrace and Olly Stone - who isn't playing football at the moment - were the two managers. They had £100m to play and you had to buy your team. Some players like Buttler, Woakes and Mark Wood were bought for a very good fee (between £20-30m) each and then there was Stokesy sat at the bottom.

Farby spent his entire budget early on so that was his side picked for him, so I didn't have to go through the auction and thankfully didn't end up bottom of the pile.

I went on a free transfer as my name didn't come out in time to be picked! I'm quite optimistic that I would have gone for more than Ben though, as you can imagine he took it really well.

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