Joe Root - World number one

Who was the last England batsman to achieve that status? Did KP ever get there, or Cook after his 10/11 peak?

Still feels slightly premature to put him alongside the ABdeV's and Amlas of this world but shows the remarkable year to 18 months he's had. He's the one England player pretty much everyone on here agrees isn't total crap, so that's a big achievement in itself... The next few tours will be a bigger test, anyway. If he can do it in the UAE, South Africa and Australia, as well as at whatever point he presumably takes on the captaincy, then he will be heading for true greatness.

And Broad rises to number 2 in the bowling rankings at the same time, a place above Jimmy. Only some guy called Steyn preventing an English double...

So Root is the new Hammond.

Yeah he's the business now. Tightened up his game no end. The thing that has really struck a chord is the effortlessness in which he scores his runs. Usually at a decent pace and, because of our pretty ordinary top three, usually counter-attacking. Such a marked improvement and, with de Villiers not playing much recently, a deserved number one. He's got a couple of question marks over his head, which he has the opportunity to answer in the next couple of years

Tougher tests ahead, in the UAE and then South Africa. I always feel like our guys, upon cresting this wave and attaining a high status, have a tendency to fall away when faced with the contrasting challenges that playing overseas presents. It will be interesting to see how all of our batsmen cope with Yasir Shah, considering how we capitulated in the UAE last time.

The last England batsman to be 'there' was Vaughan in 2003-4 after his 166.

And Vaughan only went one way after that...

And Steve Harmison was world number one bowler once. That was before he started bowling at second slip.

Yeah, they've been the only other two I can remember since I've been watching cricket. 

If Broad has a similarly destructive spell at the Oval then he won't be too far off Steyn, although as we know with Broad, that's him done for at least a few months now.

Root has less technical deficiencies at the moment, as far as I can see. Vaughan was always prone to the straighty gatey. The only problem I can see with Root ATM is the ball outside off and it's a small thing, because he's usually scored a lot of runs before it gets him out. There hasn't been an England player who's so languid in his run-making in quite some time - however graceful Vaughan was, he was a little more frenetic. It's good times.

He's developed his game well. Not much more than a year ago, he had no shots off the front foot, and bowlers could tie him down for hours on end by just pitching it up.

I worry about his back and the impact it might have on him to play the short ball long-term. Could be another Michael Clarke there. Then again, if he ends his career with Clarke's record, he'll have done pretty swell.

Yeah. That's a real worry. But as we've said, they're more likely to flog him until he breaks, rather than give him the protection it looks like he needs. The best thing they could do is give him the limited overs series off. But they won't, because he's becoming integral to their plans in that format as well.

They certainly better not pick Branderson, who are basically 'unselectable' in those formats.

He's playing fantastically well. Let's hope he can maintain it. Out of the next generation 'big four' of Root, Steve smith, Kohli, and Williamson, I think Root is the best of them, followed by the excellent Williamson.

Smith and Kohli are overrated, pampered FTBs.

Root certainly looked a cut above his fellow batsmen, and definitely above Aus's.

Because modesty precludes MrK from posting his article here, I'll do it for him. He's written an excellent article (IMHO) on Joe Root's quest for the Most-runs-in-a-calendar-year record on the Aus website The Roar. It's longish so I won't copy it here, but click the link above.

I commend you to have a read. I love the "runs in a calendar year" stats.

Sir Viv and MoYo's efforts are truly stellar, but Root is a chance of surpassing them.

He should be awarded 100 or so runs for the defaulted Old Trafford Test

A tough ask to replicate this form in Australia. Rafiq-gate could still overshadow things, and walking out at 15-2 to face Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc is extremely likely to!

Ex artcle.

Root is going to have to keep that run going to keep England even marginally competitive. I wonder have Rafiqgate will affect his batting, if noticeable at all. As beamer indicates, it may be backs very much to the wall however Root's confidence, determination (and thus also technique) are impacted.

Esp as England are about to face the new world champions.

I’m waiting for somebody with video editing skills to make a video presentation of Joe being hit repeatedly in the nads, set to ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again’. The grimacing and writhing could be set against the verse. Ten minutes of painful groin smashing should be available from the series just concluded.

Going back to the original post, he’s still “the only England player everyone agrees isn’t total crap”. In fact he’s now possibly the only England batsman anyone thinks isn’t total crap!

A few ups and downs since 2015 but averaging close to 50 in well over 100 Tests in an often failing team in a golden age of pace bowling, certainly has a case for being the best English batter of the past half-century, “craptain” or not (many of the greatest batsmen were craptains anyway…)

Surely the rearranged India Test should count against his 2021 total anyway, so he can at least claim a moral victory over MoYo if he manages 81 runs in it?

Root's record is blemished by not scoring tons in oz. Think last year he dined out on SL a bit, but he does look like a class batsman. Notice Punter has some technical reservations regarding his method.

I think 10 years is long enough to conclude that he’s a pretty good player, whatever his technical flaws… average record in Australia, fair enough, and that tends to carry a lot of weight with English players in particular (mind you, how many actually have a good record there?) but he does average over 50 in 6 different countries.

lardbucket wrote:I’m waiting for somebody with video editing skills to make a video presentation of Joe being hit repeatedly in the nads, set to ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again’. The grimacing and writhing could be set against the verse. Ten minutes of painful groin smashing should be available from the series just concluded.

Will this do in the meantime?

Red wrote:Root's record is blemished by not scoring tons in oz. Think last year he dined out on SL a bit, but he does look like a class batsman.  Notice Punter has some technical reservations regarding his method.

Yeah that's how stats tend to work. A t least Root only had one country where he struggled to maintain his usual standard. Australia's best-ever spin bowler had two (or technically speaking, seeing as we're talking about separate sovereign nations, about seven).

lardbucket wrote:I’m waiting for somebody with video editing skills to make a video presentation of Joe being hit repeatedly in the nads, set to ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again’. The grimacing and writhing could be set against the verse. Ten minutes of painful groin smashing should be available from the series just concluded.

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts." The old tune also lends itself to lyric change.

Colonel Bogey’s march, whistled cheerfully ...

Interesting topic, who was the “bogey” team of each great player, and just how badly did they do against them…