Joe Root

Joe Root reshaped England's Test batting, converting his early promise as a stylish stroke-maker into the most prolific run-scoring career in the nation's history. He moved up and down the order before settling at No.4, where his slip-catching, busy footwork and unhurried presence became the spine of the side. His appetite for runs in all conditions, especially in Asia, where his average sits around fifty, sets him apart from his contemporaries.

Root's method is built on soft hands and a full face of the bat, plus a taste for scoring through the off side. He rarely dominates with brute force; instead he tucks, drives and nudges, manipulating fields and wearing down attacks. His mastery of the sweep and reverse-sweep on turning pitches has made him a headache for spinners, and he adjusts his tempo to the situation, digging in during a crisis or accelerating towards a declaration.

Beyond the batting, Root captained England in a national-record 64 Tests. He has a double century in India and a string of prolific home summers, including 2021, when he piled up over 1,700 Test runs with six hundreds. In 2025 he climbed to second on the all-time Test run list, behind only Sachin Tendulkar.

In white-ball cricket, Root was part of England's 2019 World Cup-winning side, scoring two hundreds in that tournament. Under the aggressive approach brought in by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, he has kept churning out Test centuries, while still turning out for Yorkshire when international duty allows.