Joe Root: England batsman's highest score down to 'hurt' caused by coach

Joe Root's 254 in the second Test at Old Trafford was his highest score in first-class cricket

England batsman Joe Root has put his career-best innings down to the "hurt" caused by batting coach Mark Ramprakash questioning his mental approach.

Root hit 254 in the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford, then 71 not out as the hosts won by 330 runs.

It followed some soft dismissals which the 25-year-old says led Ramprakash to question if he was "mentally in the right place to play Test cricket".

"That sort of hurt me. It was a good motivator," said Root.

The Yorkshire player's first-innings score helped England level the series with Pakistan following a defeat at Lord's in the first Test, when two poor shots saw him dismissed for 48 and nine.

"I knew I needed to put a really big performance in at Old Trafford so I worked really hard in practice and spoke to Mark Ramprakash," Root added.

"All he said was, 'It must be your mental approach to things because your game looks in good order.'

"It's actually exactly what I needed to hear and that's why he is such a good batting coach."

Fellow England batsman Nick Compton, who is taking an indefinite break, says the likes of Ramprakash are helping to establish an England team that will "ride away for a number of years".

The Middlesex player told BBC Test Match Special: "They've got a strong squad in all forms. It's a good team, they've really got the balance right - it's relaxed but it's professional.

"I think [head coach] Trevor Bayliss clearly brought that to the squad, but of course there's a lot of professional people in there, like Mark Ramprakash and [assistant coach] Paul Farbrace, who does a lot of hard work behind the scenes."

The third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston starts on 3 August.

England's 13-man squad for the third Test against Pakistan: Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Jake Ball, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

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