Joe Root record-breaker: At the top of the tree a Yorkshireman sits - Chris Waters

No sooner had Joe Root planted his flag on top of the mountain than he settled back into his stance and simply continued batting.

He had just beaten Sir Alastair Cook’s record for the most runs by an Englishman in Test cricket, but you would never have known it from the celebration, or palpable lack of.

For that there were probably three good reasons.

First, there was work to do – that of carrying England towards Pakistan’s first innings score of 556, the tourists reaching 492-3 at stumps on day three to which Root contributed an unbeaten 176 and Harry Brook an undefeated 141, the pair sharing 243 as the might of Yorkshire took on – and mastered – the might of Pakistan.

Second, out of a deep respect for Cook, a similarly splendid ambassador for country and game. They go back a long way; it was Cook who gave Root his Test debut at Nagpur almost 12 years ago, Cook with whom he is etched in the mind’s eye, whether standing next to him in the slips or through many hours of batting together.

Third, and most impressively, perhaps, because Root is, at heart, a humble man, one who wears his greatness lightly, like a favourite fleece.

It is one thing to be the best at something, to hold this record or that record, or to win this or that award; it is quite another to parade it with the modesty that Root exhibits.

What else is there to say about him? Not much, quite frankly.

The same things that have set him apart continue to set him apart – his insatiable appetite, his love of the game, his desire to improve and, of course, his divine ability.

He is the complete package, equally adept against pace or spin. Granted, he is not quite Ronnie O’Sullivan-esque in terms of his ability to play left-handed, as a brief switch to southpaw showed on day three, but there are only so many gifts that the universe can bestow on one individual without having to answer serious questions concerning preferential treatment.

In December, Root turns 34, the sort of age where a leading cricketer’s thoughts start to turn towards the commentary box.

Not this one, you suspect, who, as it stands, needs 3,344 more runs to overhaul Sachin Tendulkar’s world record for the most Test runs (15,921).

Were this a timeless Test, one wouldn’t entirely bet against Root taking down Tendulkar in this match. Only two wickets fell on day three – Zak Crawley clipping to mid-wicket for a fine 78, and Ben Duckett trapped on the crease for an equally laudable 84, with Jason Gillespie, the Pakistan coach and former Yorkshire chief, no doubt grateful that he was watching from the sidelines as opposed to charging in with ball in hand for Australia back in the day.

Root, who started this day in Multan on 32 out of 96-1, and who broke Cook’s record on reaching 71 with a lovely on-driven four, is all about the winning, of course, and thanks to his and Brook’s turning of the screw, that prospect is now on.

True, it will not be easy on a surface which, unlike 40 per cent of marriages in the UK, has not broken up, although heat and scoreboard pressure can do funny things to a team in Pakistan’s position, the notorious third innings offering plenty to lose but precious little to gain.

The ability of Root and Brook to withstand the enervating heat on Wednesday was a tribute to their fitness, concentration and sheer single-mindedness.

Unlike most explorers with the world’s peaks to conquer, it was not the glacial cold with which Root had to contend before climbing to the top of English cricket’s run-scoring summit.

Standing above Sheffield’s finest now, his tally 12,578, are Rahul Dravid (13,288), Jacques Kallis (13,289), Ricky Ponting (13,378) and then Tendulkar (15,921).

It is not completely out of the question that Root could be second on that list by winter’s end, leaving only the great Indian – a former Yorkshire player, of course – in his sights.

Only injury, you feel, is likely to derail Root now, such is his form and fitness of body and mind.

It would, of course, at once disappoint a billion people should he go past Tendulkar, but, given Root’s popularity, the blow would at least be softened for that nation, one which has always appreciated great cricket and great cricketers.

To call Root a great cricketer seems the least of it, a master of all he surveys now as he looks down on almost 150 years of English Test cricket, which began with the very first Test at Melbourne in 1877 when Alfred Shaw, of Nottinghamshire, bowled to Australia’s Charles Bannerman.

At the top of the tree a Yorkshireman sits.

He is likely to be sitting there for some time to come, quite possibly forever.