Incredibly, the classy Yorkshireman sped past the 1,000-run mark for 2024 whilst piling up centuries at the incredible rate of around one every four innings. That is a superhuman performance
England’s Joe Root clips one during the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on August 29, 2024. Pic/Getty Images
The England selectors did Joe Root a huge favour when they unburdened him from the captaincy and released him to become a run-making machine.
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He was already an exceptional batsman—as a struggling skipper he still made 14 centuries in 118 innings —but let’s face it, captaincy and Joe Root shouldn’t appear in the same sentence. Since becoming solely a team member, Root has regularly amassed big scores with an amazing 10 centuries in just 54 innings.
Incredibly, this year, he sped past the 1,000-run mark whilst piling up centuries at the incredible rate of around one every four innings. That is a superhuman performance.
On this run rampage he passed the defiant opener Sir Alistair Cook as England’s highest Test run scorer. Root is now in the process of increasing his advantage. He will only enter his 35th year as the calendar flips over so the difference will likely be substantial by the time he retires.
Root was born to make runs and posted a highly respectable 73 in his first Test innings in India. He’s a joy to watch as he balances a solid technique with the desire to score at every opportunity.
Some of his partnerships with fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow were exhilarating as both players ran brilliantly between wickets and continually looked to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
As England entered the Ben Stokes captaincy era and some of the batting became frenetic, Root occasionally succumbed to the idea of adopting modern shots. Not surprisingly, Root handled the change comfortably but one ill-judged scoop that landed in the hands of an opposition slip fielder made him re-evaluate
his priorities.
Root sensibly went back to his old ways and has become an even more difficult batsman to dismiss. I’m not sure why he temporarily changed his approach because scoring rate has never been an issue for Root.
The glue to England’s rapid scoring has been Root, who is prepared to compile big innings while some of his teammates take the wrecking ball to the opposition attack.
One of the few anomalies on Root’s record is his failure to score a Test century despite playing 27 innings in Australia. His last chance to rectify that statistic will likely come in 2025-26 when—barring injury or retirement—Root will play another Ashes series.
It’s not as though Root has performed poorly in Australia as his average of around 35 is respectable. However, the lack of a century despite making nine scores in excess of 50 is most unlike Root.
In Australia, the four main bowlers have dismissed Root a number of times and this could be pointed to as a weakness. Nevertheless there’s an easy answer: If you are going to be dismissed it’s preferable to get out to a good bowler.
The more worrying Root statistic in Australia is the number of times he’s been caught behind. Keepers have had a bonanza as 10 times they’ve clasped Root’s edges in just 27 innings. While Root could counter with “you’ve got to be good enough to nick ’em”, it does suggest he needs to re-asses the extra bounce Australian pitches provide.
Root’s phenomenal run making will again be tested when first he faces India at home and then Australia away. In those two series Root will be facing the best attacks in Test cricket and his technique against both pace and spin will again be fully scrutinised.
Those are difficult challenges that Root and England will face in the future. Recently, Pakistan won their three-game series with a spin revolution victory against a clueless England. After his 262 in Multan, where England won by an innings and 47 runs, Root’s low scores of 34, 18, 5 and 33 coincided with England losing a grip on the series lead.
As the most technically gifted, Root will have the task of convincing his teammates that numerous versions of the sweep shot aren’t the ideal way to combat good spinners. Despite Root’s proven talent that will be a very difficult task.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell is one of the leading voices in world cricket
Clayton Murzello’s Pavilion End column will be back next week
The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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