Photo Credit: Professional Cricketers Association
PCA President Graham Gooch leads tributes to Test captain.
PCA President Graham Gooch has recorded a special video message for England Test skipper Joe Root, who is preparing to lead his side out for his 100th Test appearance beginning in Chennai on Friday.
Gooch, who was England’s batting coach when Root made his Test debut in Nagpur in late 2012, said that Root has “led by example” during his first century of Test appearances, and hoped to see the world-class batsman win another 100 caps in the coming years.
Root has enjoyed a fruitful first eight years at the core of England’s Test batting line-up, scoring 8,429 runs in the format at an average of 49.49 ahead of the four Test series in India, including 19 hundreds.
Those impressive figures put Root fourth on the all-time list of English Test run-scorers, behind only three fellow greats in the form of Alastair Cook (12,472), Gooch (8,900) and Alec Stewart (8,463).
In addition, only nine Test batsmen have recorded more Test hundreds for England, and the Yorkshireman needs to add just four more to move second behind Cook (33) in that respect.
Still only 30 years of age, Root will have plenty of time to climb up both tables in terms of Test runs scored and hundreds made, and is on course to break every English batting record along the way.
On top of his batting prowess, Root has established an excellent record as captain since taking over the role from Cook in 2017.
Having led his side out on 45 occasions, England’s recent win in the second Test Match in Sri Lanka moved Root up to second on the all-time list of Test victories as England captain with 25. Only Michael Vaughan (26) has won more.
Highlights of his time in charge include decisive away series wins in South Africa and Sri Lanka (twice), as well as a thumping 4-1 home win over India in 2018, the opponents being the world’s number one-ranked Test side at the time.
On a personal level, Root’s first eight years have included some soaring individual highs including four double hundreds, and a high score of 254 made against Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford in 2016.
In only his second home Ashes Test Match, Root made a memorable 180 at the top of the order in a big win over Australia at Lord’s, the first of his three Ashes hundreds to date.
Everyone at the PCA would like to offer Joe their warmest congratulations on reaching 100 Test appearances for England, and we wish him all the best for the upcoming series in India and beyond.
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey as the Cricketers’ Association, represents past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales. In the 1970s, the PCA established a standard employment contract and minimum wage for professional cricketers. It also helped create a pension scheme in 1995 and launched the magazine All Out Cricket and the ACE UK Educational Programme in 2002.
