Joe Root has just broken England’s record for their most Test centuries, and now Ottis Gibson is backing the Yorkshire legend to go on and surpass another man whose named will forever be etched into this county’s rich history.
On Saturday, against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, Root scored his 34th Test century, beating Sir Alastair Cook’s record for the most by an English Test batter.
Root, 33, scored two centuries in the second Test win over Sri Lanka at the Home of Cricket – 143 in the first innings and 103 in the second.
He is now in the top 10 most prolific century makers in Test Cricket, tied alongside a number of players on 34, including Yorkshire coach Gibson’s Greatest of All Time, Brian Lara.
Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar, Yorkshire’s first ever overseas player in 1992, heads the list with 51 Test centuries.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Joe Root hugs father Matt at Lord’s after scoring his record-breaking 34th Test century.
Tendulkar, who retired in 2013, also heads the list of most Test Match runs, with 15,921 to his name from 200 matches.
Root currently has 12,377 from 145 appearances under his belt – and, with no signs of retirement, the talk of the game is now whether he can elevate himself to the top of that list.
Gibson said: “We were talking about that the other day in the dressing room.
“If he plays the amount of cricket Tendulkar played, I’m sure he will.
“He’s about 3,500 runs away. That’s generally about four-and-a-half years.
Picture by YCCC. Sachin Tendulkar, Yorkshire’s first ever overseas player in 1992.
“If he goes on until the age that Tendulkar played until, he will probably surpass what Tendulkar did to be honest.
“When you think about the fast bowling and what Jimmy Anderson did, the longevity of what he did. Even Tendulkar with all the runs he made, he was still batting beautifully into his late thirties.
“If Rooty carries on into his late thirties and carries on the way he’s playing now, it’s inevitable he will go past Tendulkar.”
On Root breaking Cook’s record over the weekend, Gibson said: “Some things are destined to happen, and I think that was already destined to happen once Root started playing Test cricket and worked out his game and what he’s good at.
“His desire to score runs is undeniable. He just loves batting.
Picture by Gareth Copley/Getty Images. Joe Root speaks to BBC’s Test Match Special team on Saturday. Jonathan Agnew conducts the interview as Sir Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan watch on.
“He also loves playing at Lord’s. It’s seven hundreds he’s got there.
“I’m happy to say that when he came back to us at the beginning of the season, we gave him the form that he’s got to now!
“He comes back here, we boost his confidence, tell him how great he is, and then he goes and scores lots of runs for England.
“That’s what we do here at Headingley.”
Ex-fast bowler Gibson played two Test Matches for the West Indies in 1995 and 1999.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Ottis Gibson and Joe Root present Yorkshire members Gordon Hoyle, Sue Robinson and Ray Leeman with their 50-year Yorkshire membership brooches in May.
He played alongside Lara in of those games – against England and then South Africa – and against Jacques Kallis.
Gibson added: “Certainly Lara was the best, as far I’m concerned – certainly of the ones I played with or against.
“Somewhere in the top five of all those great players is Jacques Kallis, Tendulkar and Sangakkara.
“Rooty is right up there with those guys.”
