The captain bore the fruits of having some time off and should be proud of how he and his undercooked team started the year
After the presentation and the press conferences were out of the way, and the dust on the well-worn pitch had settled, Joe Root stepped out on to the outfield in Galle to speak to the solitary
England fan who, from the ramparts of the neighbouring Dutch fort, had witnessed in person the team’s seven-wicket victory.
Rob Lewis had spent 10 months in Sri Lanka waiting for the team to return after the original series was postponed in March and Root, whose match-defining 228 was forged with a bat that has a Barmy Army logo on the back of it, wanted to thank him personally for his support across the five days.