England's Greatest Yorkshireman

 

As the sun dipped low in the Sky in Galle this evening England Captain Joe Root surpassed Sir Geoffrey Boycott as Yorkshire's highest run scorer for England. and moved into 6rh place in England's all time list.

Root like former Captain Sir Alastair Cook, Root debuted in Nagpur in December 2012 and immediately showed he could handle life on the big stage scoring 73 from 229 balls in his maiden Test match innings. A maiden Test century, 104 vs New Zealand followed in May 2013 at his home ground of Headingley. 

Two months later Root would showcase his talent to the world in the 2nd Ashes Test of the summer at Lords. With England 233 ahead on first innings they needed someone to take the game beyond the reach of the tourists. Opening the innings as he done for most of his career to that point Root made a brilliant 180 and England's baby faced assassin had truly arrived on the world stage.

Root celebrates his maiden Ashes Century
(Lords July 2013)

England it seemed had found a long term partner Cook at the top of the order following the retirement of Sir Andrew Strauss but it transpired fate had other idea's. That winter The Ashes were contested again and as has often happened in the past it was a chastening experience for England. Root began the series at No 6 with Michael Carberry opening with Cook. Following the match Jonathan Trott's battles with his mental health had unfortunately got the better of him and he returned home prompting the selectors to push Root up to 3. He would score 87 in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test at Adelaide but as Australia tightened their grip on the little urn things would get worse and worse for England and Root and come the final Test of the series at Sydney Root found himself out of the side.

His exile from the side would not last for long and Root was determined to make the most of his second coming. The summer of 2014 saw Sri Lanka & India touring England. Batting at 5, Root ended the first day of the Test summer 102 not out and by the time England declared on 575/9 Root had made is first double century. Scores of 154 & 149 against India would follow and on each occasion Root finished unbeaten.

2015 was a golden year for Root as he finished the calendar year with 1385 Test runs, two more ashes 100's (134 at Cardiff & 130 at Trent Bridge) and a second Ashes winners medal and his place in the team well and truly secured.

The main criticism that has been thrown in Root's direction is his conversion of 50's into 100's and it was late in 2015 as England lost to Pakistan in UAE and into 2016 when this pattern became most noticeable. Following is 130 at Trent Bridge Root would pass 50 on five occasions before registering another century in the 2nd Test against South Africa at Johannesburg. His next visit to the honours board came in the home series against Pakistan as Root made a career best 254 at Old Trafford.

Root leaves the field having made 254 vs Pakistan
(Old Trafford July 2016)

The Sumer of 2017 saw Root appointed as England captain, and he got off to the perfect start with a match winning 190 against South Africa at Lords. The conversion issue would rear it's ugly head once again though as only 2 of the next 16 50+ scores for Root would end up as 100's. Root was at least not short of runs. in 2017 he ended just 5 runs behind Michael Vaughan's England record for Test runs in a calendar year which his fellow Sheffield Collegiate attendee had set back in 2002.

In 2018 Root would make two further centuries and another in 2019 (226 v New Zealand) but non were to follow in the COVID hit summer of 2020 although England did beat both West Indies and Pakistan.

A further 5 50's would come before Root scored his 18th Test Century, a magnificent 228 against Sri Lanka in Galle. Root admitted after the match he had spent a lot of his time in COVID isolation studying his game and as much analysis as possible in an effort to be able to go big more often and that his 4th double century was just a start in that particular story.

Root celebrates reaching 200 in Galle (Jan 2021)

One area where Root has no such conversion issues is 100's into daddy hundreds. He has passed 150 on 8 of 18 occasions, with four of those turned into scores of 200+. A place in England's top 5 Test Run scorers is now just 63 runs away for England's captain and by the time you read this he may be above Kevin Pietersen in that list and Test 100 no 19 may well be in the bag too.

Root is still relatively young at 30 and whenever retirement beckons it is certain Root will be at either 1 or 2 in England's all time list. Only he will know if he has the inner drive to surpass Sir Alastair Cook (12472) at the top of that list, but whatever the final outcome Root is one of the finest batsman of his era and one of England's very best.

There are no obvious flaws in Root's game, he is equally prolific against the quicks and spinners and scores freely on both the off and leg sides off front or back foot, and it's almost impossible to stop him scoring due to his nimble footwork and ability to score in all area's.

Root will lead his nation in his 100th Test in Chennai in February and he will want to lead from the front with plenty of runs, and the current series in Sri Lanka is perfect preparation for that tour. However Root will want a series win in Sri Lanka first and with England 1-0 up and himself well set on 69* the prospects of that look good as do the prospects of many more runs to come.

*Update - Root finished with 186 his 19th Test century, overtaking not only Sir Geoffrey Boycott but also Kevin Pietersen and David Gower to go 4th on England's all time Test runs scorers list.

Greg Griffiths

Jan 24 2021

Joe Root Career Records