A perception abounds that Joe Root has not made the most of his talents. I took a look at his stats.
In Test Matches, let us start with averages. Root’s average has come down to 48, having been over 50. To find higher averages over a long career, you are looking at Ken Barrington, or the famous trio of Wally Hammond, Denis Compton and Herbert Sutcliffe (the latter’s average of 60 over 54 games is probably the most impressive.
Looking at run scorers, he is 7th in the list of England’s leading run scorers. He will almost certainly go past Graham Gooch and it will be in a similar number of matches. I am not sure he will pass Alistair Cook, but it is a possibility.
His apparent achilles heel is centuries. He is correctly criticised for not scoring enough test match centuries. Pretty 70s do not a test match series win. But he has 18 test centuries so is ahead of David Gower and Graham Thorpe, to name people of recent eras. And going back, he is in front of Compton, though obviously has played more games. The other thing about Root is that he is pretty good at 200s. In the century maker list, he again almost certainly will go past Kevin Pietersen but perhaps perhaps Cook will prove a step too far.
Before looking at 50 over cricket, let’s quickly look at T20 internationals. He is 6th on the list in terms of English run scorers, and has the highest average of that top 6. His strike rate is 126.3, and the likes of Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler can add 10 to that. However, for me, his contribution in 2016 was significant to England getting to the T20 World Cup final. Whether he will play more T20 internationals will depend on Dawid Malan keeping up his form. It would also be hard to pick Root in front of Alex Hales.
In test cricket, the ‘big 3’ of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson have moved ahead of Root. Kohli is out in front when it comes to the One Dayers, but Root, Smith and Williamson remain much closer together. I certainly think Root’s best game is the 50 over stuff. For England run scorers, he sits in second place to Eoin Morgan, and I think it likely he will pass Morgan. His average, though, is a remarkable 50. Remarkable when you consider that for the first part of Root’s career, England were useless at 50 over cricket. Number 3 is the perfect spot for him.
What about his captaincy of the test match team? Let’s get the stats out of the way – it is hard to make a judgement on captaincy from statistics. For example, I think that Mike Atherton would have been a great captain with slightly better and more consistent players. Root has won 24 test matches, which brings him level with Andrew Strauss with only Michael Vaughan is ahead of him. Of course, Vaughan and Strauss also lost fewer games with more draws. You cannot compare eras, but it is notable that Mike Brearley only lost 4 games.
Root is an attacking captain which means he has not drawn so many games (as has been the modern way), but you think of the Headingley declaration against West Indies in 2017 which effectively allowed a West Indies win – I think it was the wrong move, but it was certainly positive. More recently you look at the decision to open with Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes at Old Trafford in 2020 to ensure quick runs. I was not sure about that move either – but it worked.
I think it is fair to say that captaincy did not sit naturally with Root at first. After loosing the first test match against South Africa in 2020, he was roundly criticised. Many said he should go.
Since that loss, it has been a very successful run for Root. It has also started to feel like Joe’s Team. He seems to be at his best getting the best out of the youngsters, and not so much the diciplinarian. A bit like Vaughan – but Root has not had the players Vaughan had. For example, in the recent Galle test match,at one point Dan Lawrence tried to play the biggest slog ever seen in the middle of what otherwise was a fine innings. Root just came down the pitch laughing and joking. At that point Lawrence did not need a lecture about not giving it away. But many would have done that.
It is that schoolboy grin that is Root’s greatest asset – even as a leader. At times, I think he has felt unable to laugh and joke. And he has to lead by example. But he cannot afford to loose that.
Root is likely to go down as the captain that could not beat Australia, as despite India’s heroics one has to assume England will struggle in Oz. But he has a chance – if he can get the team he wants together, and if he can get the hang of Jofra Archer.
As for Root the batsman, perhaps he is not in that top 3, but he is still a brilliant batman who should go down as one of England’s best. And he is just a delight to watch, which cannot be said of Steve Smith!
Cricketed 