In the 21st century it is never over until Neil Diamond sings (it is always “Sweet Caroline” of course) and the PA system had to delay pumping out the old favourite for an hour while Malinda Pushpakumara and Suranga Lakmal, Sri Lanka’s last pair, were keeping the England team in the field and whittling down the target. But once Jack Leach took the final wicket the refrain “Good times never seemed so good” rang out across the Sinhalese Sports Club and somehow this appeared to suit Joe Root’s mood.

“It felt like relief [when Lakmal was dismissed], the way it was going towards the end,” said England’s captain before contemplating the entirety of the trip. “It’s been a fabulous tour. I’m very proud of everything we’ve achieved and the manner in which we’ve done it, the way the group has approached it in general. We’ve done things differently; everyone has bought into that and if they hadn’t we wouldn’t be sitting here 3-0 up.

“From start to finish we’ve planned very well. We’ve obviously had the experience of Trevor [Bayliss] and Farby [Paul Farbrace] in these conditions and we found a formula very early on. Then with the strength of the squad we had so many different options depending on the conditions. It’s about being adaptable and we’ve shown we can do that here. We are not a one-trick pony in our own conditions anymore and that should fill us with a huge amount of confidence going into future tours. It’s been a complete squad effort”.

England wrap up series whitewash but are made to sweat by spirited Sri Lanka Read more

In this Root was right and along the way he happily – and justifiably – mentioned the contributions of just about everyone, including his senior pacemen, who statistically had modest tours. “They are two very good seniors and it’s nice to know we don’t just rely on those two guys.”

He noted that the fielding had improved significantly on this tour, highlighting the efforts of Ben Stokes and Keaton Jennings and he hid his surprise that Leach was the man to produce something startling in this department on the final day with his astonishing run out of Kusal Mendis. In addition to that Leach took three more wickets to bring his tally for the series to 18, the same number as Moeen Ali.

The self-effacing left-arm spinner has been a fine addition to the Test squad. He is learning fast, enjoying his promotion and he had the bonus of taking the last wicket of the series. “It’s very special‚“ he said, “but I’m absolutely knackered. Sri Lanka pushed us all the way, but what a result. After the tea break Joe threw me the ball and I had to get the body going again and I was just happy to get that wicket and get off the field. I had the first two Tests and was like ‘It’s hot’ and then I got here and thought: ‘Oh maybe it wasn’t that hot.’ Turns out Colombo is proper sweaty.”

Leach has been dependable with the ball throughout but on the final day the run out of Mendis was his most important contribution. He will not forget that in a hurry. He explained how it happened: “My towel at the back of my trousers wasn’t quite in properly so just before the ball came I quickly threw it to the boundary and then suddenly it looked like they were going to run two and I thought: ‘Oh no! I’ve conceded two here and I shouldn’t have done that.’ Then I just launched it towards the stumps and thought ‘that looks as if it might hit’ and luckily it did. I’ve never done anything like that and I think that was actually the best moment of my career. I would love to say I’ve been working on those long distance throws but I would be lying.”

So for Jack as well as Joe good times never seemed so good. He will be there in the Caribbean in six weeks time in a team that is still reassuringly hungry to improve. And, no doubt, Neil will be there as well.