Former England Captain Joe Root Surpasses Brian Lara’s Run Tally
England’s Joe Root has reclaimed his status as the world’s top Test batter, according to the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings. Root’s resurgence followed a remarkable series performance against the West Indies, where he stood out as the only top-six batsman to score more than 20 runs. England’s lower-order also shone, with rookie wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith nearly reaching a century and rising 31 places to number 64 in the rankings.
Root’s stellar series against the Caribbean team included a series-high 291 runs over three matches. His best performance came in the third and final Test in Birmingham, where he scored 87. This achievement marked Root’s return to the top spot, which he had previously held from August 2015 until last year after a strong performance in the first Ashes match.
Notably, Root surpassed Brian Lara’s Test match tally of 11,953 runs, becoming the sixth highest run-scorer in the format with a total of 12,207 runs. He leads current Test cricketers in runs, followed by Steven Smith with 9,685 and Virat Kohli with 8,848. Root’s recent form also saw him overtake Kane Williamson, with Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam now level with Daryl Mitchell in third place, Smith in fifth, and India captain Rohit Sharma in sixth.
Root’s consistent performances have cemented his position as one of the world’s best Test batsmen. Reflecting on his passion for county cricket, Root emphasized the need for changes to the schedule to benefit English cricket.
“I am extremely passionate about county cricket, and it is apparent the schedule needs to change for a host of reasons to see long-lasting benefits for English cricket. County cricket is the breeding ground for some of the best talent in the game, and this requires world-leading structures to allow players to reach their full potential. This benefits everyone in the game. We are trying to find a way to get the standard of first-class cricket as close to the international game as we can. There’s a large number of players who don’t think the schedule is conducive to high-level performance as it stands right now; we need to find a way of making that gap smaller and the product better,” said Root in media reports.
Root’s dedication to both international and county cricket continues to inspire, highlighting the importance of strong domestic structures in nurturing world-class talent.
