Joe Root is a batting phenomenon, but he has two big exams coming up

The England batter has been mightily prolific this year, making a century about every four innings

20-Oct-2024

Joe Root became the first English player to score 34 Test hundreds, England vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Lord's, 3rd day, August 31, 2024

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.

He was already an exceptional batter - 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 two and a half years ago, Root has regularly amassed big scores with an amazing ten centuries in just 54 innings.

Incredibly, in this calendar year he has already sped past the thousand-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 Alastair 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, he 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 batter 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 team-mates take the wrecking ball to the opposition attack.

One of the few anomalies in Root's record is his failure to score a Test century in Australia despite having played 27 innings there. His last chance to rectify that statistic will likely come in 2025-26, when - barring injury or retirement - he will play another Ashes series.

Root was born to make runs. He's a joy to watch, as he balances a solid technique with the desire to score at every opportunity

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're 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 ten times they've clasped Root's edges in just 27 innings. While he could counter with "you've got to be good enough to nick 'em", it does suggest he needs to re-assess 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. Currently they're desperately involved in a bid to win after Pakistan levelled their three-game series with a spin-revolution victory against a clueless England.

As the most technically gifted, Root will have the task of convincing his fellow team-mates 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.

Joe Root England

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell is a columnist