[WATCH] Is Joe Root England’s best batter of all time? Former Australia players discuss ahead of Ashes 2025/26
Watch the interaction on Fox Cricket where the former Australia batters, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh, discuss ahead of Ashes 2025/26 whether the former England captain, Joe Root, remains England's best batter of all-time.
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Joe Root is the second leading run-getter in the longest format of world cricket. The former captain of the England side has collected 13543 runs in 288 innings at an average of 51.29 and a strike rate of 57.49 with the help of 39 centuries and 66 half-centuries at the best score of 262 runs.
Against Australia, the right-handed batter has clubbed 2428 runs in 65 innings at an average of 40.46 and a strike rate of 50, with the help of four centuries and 18 fifties at the best score of 18. He has recorded only 892 runs in 27 innings down under at 35.68 with nine fifties. But is it the best batter for England?
See Also: List of fastest players to score 1000 runs ft. Abhishek Sharma
“He certainly looks to have a hunger for scoring runs. He just looks calm, even in this phase of his career. He plays the ball really close to his bat. And it’s almost like when the captaincy pressure was released from his shoulder, it just seemed to relieve him in every single aspect of his life and convert it to a different mindset. To do this stuff and jump on the board at this stage is excellent.” Australia’s former wicket-keeper, Adam Gilchrist, expressed on Fox Cricket.
Watch: Adam Gilchrist reflects on Joe Root’s skills to be England’s best batter of all-time
Gilchrist reckoned that Root has been excellent in the Bazball era, while the former batter, Mark Waugh, questioned if Root could tackle the bouncer in this series, as the short ball issue keeps creating pressure on the batter.
“I think Root is the fastest in the Bazball era and always adapts the quickest. He can get a bit creative, but I think he would be the most important member of this whole tour to make sure that they would have enough foundation for the guys like Harry Brook to bat around and build the innings.” Gilchrist added.
“What he has done is to get a great tempo to his batting. He scores quicker even with that. He would get to a fifty in almost no time. The only thing I guess worries him is the bouncer here on the off-stump line, because he does play with a 40-45 degree angled bat. A bit like Ollie Pope, they have the chink in the armor.” Mark Waugh shed light.
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