Stuart Broad: it would be pathetic to fall out with Joe Root over Windies snub

Stuart Broad has said it would have been “pathetic” to fall out with Joe Root over his omission from the Caribbean tour and wants England to ride the wave of their long overdue win at Lord’s when the series moves to his beloved Trent Bridge.

Root’s unbeaten 115 in the five-wicket victory against New Zealand made for a heartening return to the ranks for the former captain, the strains of his final months in the role seemingly melting away to get his successor, Ben Stokes, off to a winning start while the team’s new head coach, Brendon McCullum, looked on approvingly.

Broad, a gamechanger himself on the third morning when helping to conjure up a lesser-spotted team hat-trick, was similarly in awe of the composure shown in the chase; he and Jimmy Anderson may have been dropped for Root’s final series in charge, but the 35-year-old insists it was never taken personally.

“Not at all,” Broad said, when asked if he and Root needed to clear the air before the series. “Joe and I spoke at length when he stood down as captain and I said to him how much he’s meant to me and what a privilege it was playing under him.

“I told him I hope he really enjoys the next few years. All that pressure has gone now. He’s already a legend of the game, so he can just go out there and enjoy it.

“Joe and I are great friends. And I’ve always been someone who can distinguish between business and pleasure. I can’t fall out with someone because they don’t pick me in a team, that would be a bit pathetic.”

The pair had already met up before Lord’s, in fact, taking in Nottingham Forest’s Championship play-off semi-final victory over Sheffield United last month. Root, a Blades fan, may have been left disappointed but a late night bottle of red wine in the