Legend, leader, record-breaker
Joe Root MBE is a special talent, with many believing he’s the best Yorkshire have ever produced.
It’s hard to argue considering he’s only one of three players from the county to have played 100 Tests or more and has been ranked the world’s number one Test batter on countless occasions, including at the start of 2026. At time of writing, he sits atop of that particular tree.
Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Jonny Bairstow are the only other Yorkshiremen to have played 100 or more Tests for England. There is every chance Harry Brook will follow them one day.
Former captain Root is England’s leading Test Match run-scorer with 13,943 from 163 appearances. That includes 41 centuries. He went beyond Sir Alastair Cook’s records of 12,472 and 33 tons during 2024.
He is chasing down Sachin Tendulkar’s world-record haul of 15,921 at pace.
You would think injury is the only thing which could prevent Root from passing the former Yorkshire overseas player. At 35-years-old, Root is in fine fettle.
Root, also a very handy off-spin bowler, maybe chasing some personal records, but he already stands alone in many senses, including his haul of 1,708 Test runs in 2021, the most runs ever by an Englishman in a calendar year.
The Sheffield Collegiate product debuted in all three formats of international cricket in 2012 and 2013 – Tests coming first in India – having debuted for Yorkshire in a 40-over game in 2009.
A one-day World Cup winner in 2019, he is a two-time County Championship winner with the White Rose (2014 and 2015) and a two-time Ashes winner. He lifted the Championship title as stand-in captain for Andrew Gale in 2014.
In 2024, he played five Championship matches at the start of the season as Yorkshire went on to win promotion. He contributed two centuries. In 2025, he only played once.
Later in 2024, he hit a career best 262 in Tests – against Pakistan at Multan. He shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 454 with Harry Brook. It remains England’s highest ever stand for that wicket.
During that summer, he was also presented with his MBE at Windsor Castle.
Root came through the Yorkshire age-groups and Academy and captained England’s Test team between 2017 and 2022.
He didn’t make a Yorkshire appearance in 2023, but did – as aforementioned – in 2024 and 2025.
At the start of 2025, Root returned to England’s ODI plans for their Champions Trophy campaign having spent nearly 15 months out of the side. He has scored 20 centuries in 189 appearances in that format and is England’s leading run-scorer with 7,577.
Surprisingly, Root played the last of his 32 T20Is in May 2019, though he has played franchise cricket for Rajasthan and Paarl Royals.
In the winter Ashes series Down Under in late 2025 and early 2026, he scored centuries at Brisbane and Sydney – his first on Australian soil.
UPDATED: Feb 2026
