Joe Root defended England’s sloppy showing against Sri Lanka as they ended their summer with a defeat and said: “Coldplay can’t be number one every week.”

England blew the chance to complete a clean sweep of wins in a home Test summer for the first time since 2004 with a humbling eight-wicket loss at the Kia Oval thanks to Pathum Nissanka’s brilliant unbeaten 127.

Stand-in skipper Ollie Pope blamed a third day on which England “shot themselves in the foot” by being bowled out for 156 in 34 overs. Root, who had a rare double failure in the match but was named England’s player of the summer, felt the performance was an occupational hazard of their attacking approach.

“Not so much this week but it has been a good summer,” said Root. “We have played some really good cricket along the way. We have had new faces come into the team and some really exciting prospects off the back of that. We are constantly learning and evolving as a group and it is nice to contribute to that.

“I don’t think we played our best cricket this week and that is going to happen from time to time. Coldplay can’t be number one every week.

“My point being is we are always trying to move the game forward. We wanted to keep our catchers in, and as batters want to find ways of putting opposition under pressure. We are not always going to get it right all of the time. For 90 per cent of the summer, we have. We have shown what a good team we can be when we play in that manner.

“It is important we are authentic to what we are as a team and what brings out the best in our individual players.”

‘I don’t think there’s been a lack of hunger at all’

Pope defended his decision to employ extremely attacking fields, and to stay on the pitch on the second evening when only able to bowl spinners in bad light, allowing Sri Lanka to trim their first-innings lead.

“I don’t think there’s been a lack of hunger at all,” said Pope. “I don’t think there was a complacency. It’s been a long summer but that’s nothing to do with why we lost this game.

“It’s disappointing. On day three we shot ourselves in the foot. We weren’t at our best. Credit to Sri Lanka, they deserved to win this Test. Day three is moving day in the game. It moved forward quickly, but probably in the wrong direction for us.

“Cricket doesn’t always go as you plan. And I think as a batting unit, we’ve been pretty consistent throughout the summer and driving games forwards has been something that we’ve done fairly well. The one learning [lesson] is just be a little bit more ruthless on day three, and that will give us the edge to put a bigger score on the board and create some more pressure in the field.

“We want to be a team that just wins every game, as everyone does, and it’s been 20 years since we’ve done it [a clean sweep]. That was probably that extra bit of motivation this week. So there’s that slight bit of frustration that we’ve not done that. But at the same time, at the start of the summer, had someone said we’re going to win five out of six Test matches, you probably would have taken it as well.”

Pope hopes to return to the ranks when England next play a Test, against Pakistan on Oct 7, with Ben Stokes fit after a hamstring injury. Having won his first series in charge, Pope said he enjoyed standing in for the first time.

“I’ve loved it. I’ve enjoyed the challenge,” he said. “There’s obviously extra pressure, a lot more voices around which is fine and understandable.”