Few sportspeople can lay claim to having had a prolonged period of utter dominance in their discipline in a manner even remotely comparable to Joe Root’s performances in 2021. Despite his side suffering a Test series defeat, with at best, another drawn series to follow when the India series is finally wrapped up next summer, for the first time since 2012, it was a home season for the ages for England’s leader.
His 661 runs at a world-class average of 66.1 in series against New Zealand and then Virat Kohli’s side propelled him to second on the list of all-time English Test run scorers. These scores, full of the ‘daddy’ hundreds which Root has faced previous criticism for failing to convert scores of 50-plus to, haven’t just come against any opposition either. In fact, they have been scored against the fearsome bowling attacks of the two World Test Championship finalists. From Boult and Southee to Bumrah and Siraj, the Yorkshireman has seen off the very best this summer in testing conditions conducive to his pacer counterparts.
Six centuries home and abroad during 2021 also saw him equal Denis Compton and Michael Vaughan for the most by an Englishman in a single calendar year. Typical to the scenarios he has found himself battling against for much of his Test career and owing to the struggles of his teammates at the top of the order, it is not just the sheer weight of runs which caught the eye this summer but the manner of his accumulation at the crease.
Take his knock in the third Test against the Indians at his home ground, Headingley. His glorious 121 helped steer England to a dominating and ultimately unassailable position in the match following India’s capitulation with the bat. It was a showreel innings for Root; the dainty dab down to third man which continues to prove so profitable, his back-foot domination of spin, in particular, which seems to pause time and his trademark front-foot domination through the ‘V’.
The great English Test batsmen of the modern era all possess at least one quality which simply a mention of their name brings to mind. Think Sir Alistair Cook’s cut shot and immense concentration, Kevin Pietersen’s ability to take the game to the opposition or even Sir Geoffrey Boycott’s resolute defence. These are true, generational greats of English cricket and there’s an argument to say, this summer more than ever before, Root displayed all of these qualities in one all-encompassing package.
Root and his team, who have arrived in Australia ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, face a considerable battle to wrestle the urn back home with them. Whilst the current Australia side is far from comparable to the generational teams of yesteryear, winning the Ashes on foreign soil is a once-in-a-career achievement – at best – for most players. Will England’s misfiring and ultimately unreliable batting lineup be able to withstand the likes of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood? Can England’s undoubtedly high-class but ageing bowling group offer enough variety on pitches which don’t suit their game. Even with the huge boost of Ben Stokes’ return, some of the most ardent England fans may struggle to find a positive answer to those questions.
But England’s skipper can enter the series knowing he is on the back of the form of his life. For a few years some have said Root had slightly dropped off the trail-blazing pace set by Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Babar Azam and Kane Williamson as the best batsmen in world cricket. There is no doubt now though that Root is once again one of the ‘big boys’, turning the ‘fab four’ into the ‘famous five’.
