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Joe Root became England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer after hitting 262 in the first Test against Pakistan in Multan. His career total of 12,664 runs took him past Alastair Cook’s record, and puts him fifth on the all-time list of Test run-scorers. He needs 714 more to reach second place, and 3,257 more to equal the Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar. “His currency is runs,” former England batter Nasser Hussain said on Thursday. His statistics prove it. Sky Sports called Root “masterful”. The Guardian’s Ali Martin described him as a cricketing Michaelangelo. Michael Atherton elevated him to batting immortality in the Times. Root’s father, Matt, played a Yorkshireman’s straight-batted defensive block and said he was “chuffed to bits”. England will probably never see the like again.
“His currency is runs,” former England batter Nasser Hussain said on Thursday morning. His statistics prove it.
- His 262 against Pakistan was his career-best score.
- Root and Harry Brook’s 454-run partnership was also England’s highest ever partnership.
- His average of 51.47 runs per innings is the highest of the top ten English batters of all time.
- He also holds the record for most centuries (35) and fifties (64) by an English batter.
- England’s 823-7 declared was their third-highest of all time, and the fourth highest in Test cricket’s 147-year history.
Root has also taken 70 wickets as a part-time spin bowler, and has also taken the most catches as a fielder – i.e. non-wicketkeeper – in English Test cricket (202).
Bear in mind the gap between Sir Alastair Cook’s in second place on the England all-time list and Graham Gooch in third is a hefty 3,572 runs, Root’s position at the summit of English test batters is likely never to be reached by another batter.
Test cricket’s future as a sporting proposition still hangs in the balance in comparison to its short-form cousins, but England – and Root’s – performance in Pakistan has proved there is still a place for batting feats of such magnitude.
