Sports Hero: Versatile Root has England smiling once again

STATISTICS can suck the life out of a newspaper article but here are a few to put a spring in the step.
Yorkshires Joe Root took criticism of his Ashes showing Down Under on the chin and bounced back in style to enjoy a memorable 2014, one of the highlights of which was a century against India on his home ground of Headingley (Picture: PA).Yorkshires Joe Root took criticism of his Ashes showing Down Under on the chin and bounced back in style to enjoy a memorable 2014, one of the highlights of which was a century against India on his home ground of Headingley (Picture: PA).
Yorkshires Joe Root took criticism of his Ashes showing Down Under on the chin and bounced back in style to enjoy a memorable 2014, one of the highlights of which was a century against India on his home ground of Headingley (Picture: PA).

Last summer, Joe Root scored 777 runs in the seven Test matches at the Bradmanesque average of 97.12.

He made 200 not out against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

He hit 154 not out against India at Trent Bridge.

And he fired 149 not out against India at The Oval.

The Yorkshire and England batsman also fashioned a hat-trick of one-day international hundreds.

He struck 107 against the West Indies at North Sound.

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He made 113 against India at Headingley – the first Yorkshire player to score a one-day international hundred on his home ground.

And he stroked 104 not out against Sri Lanka at Pallekele.

Why, it has felt as if Root could do almost anything in 2014 – even play the Arctic Monkeys’ song Mardy Bum on the ukulele, which he did in front of the cameras in his hotel room in Sri Lanka the other day.

Not even Bradman, they say, could play the ukulele – although he could probably have used one to score a century.

Root, who hails from the Arctic Monkeys’ home city of Sheffield, gained the fourth-highest portion of your vote in our search for Yorkshire’s Sports Hero of 2014.

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It says much for the top-three choices – might there yet be more Yorkshire cricketing representation in this Championship-winning year? – and even more for the way Root has developed from talented tyro to integral member of the England team.

Cast your mind back 12 months and you may remember that Root – in common with his team-mates – struggled for runs on the ill-fated Ashes tour. He was even dropped for the last match in Sydney.

Root’s response to the setback was nothing short of rousing.

It showed he has character as well as the class.

Root, who turns 24 on December 30, is what you might call a thinking cricketer.

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He is always asking questions of those around him – just ask Martyn Moxon and Jason Gillespie, his coaches at Yorkshire – in an insatiable quest to learn and improve.

Root did not need to be told what he had done wrong in Australia; he went away and worked it out for himself.

Self-reflection was the spur for correction.

“I got very internal, didn’t play many shots and just looked to survive a lot of the time,” he said recently of his efforts in that series.

“I just didn’t go anywhere (at the crease) and I had to go out there, express myself, be aggressive when I could be and absorb pressure when I couldn’t.

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“It was up to me to counterattack when the right opportunity came; I got that balance right this past summer.”

Not ‘arf...

Relocated to the middle order after batting at No 3 in Australia following Jonathan Trott’s return home from a stress-related illness, Root thrived in a role that offered more scope for freedom of expression.

Not that he would be unable to make a success of the No 3 position, or even that of opening batsman; after all, Root spent his formative years opening the innings.

He is the definition of a versatile cricketer in an age where it pays to have a decent scoop shot as well as a solid defence, an all-round talent who can play his part with the ball and in the field.

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In his first Test innings after the Ashes, Root bounced back with that double hundred against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

It was his career-best performance in the five-day game, eclipsing the 180 he made against Australia on the same ground in 2013.

It also highlighted his taste for turning three-figure scores into colossal contributions; only one of Root’s five Test centuries has been lower than 149, while he has hit two first-class double hundreds for his county.

Along with fellow Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance, whose contribution of 704 runs in the seven Tests last summer at 70.40 should not go unnoticed, Root helped put a smile back on the face of English cricket.

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That smile has not yet widened into a cheeky grin – the sort Root possesses – for all in England’s garden is not yet rosy.

But such players offer hope for the future, hope that England can again become a real force.

In a marvellous year, Root even found time to lead Yorkshire to the Championship when he deputised for suspended captain Andrew Gale.

In true Roy of the Rovers fashion, he returned for the title-clinching fixture against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

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Root held aloft the trophy with such joy that he could have been holding aloft the Ashes urn.

As a future England captain, that could well be the next photograph for the family album.

The countdown to the No 1 Sports Hero – which will be revealed on Saturday – continues tomorrow with your third-placed choice.

The winner of our competition to win a pair of hospitality tickets to day two of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Headingley Carnegie on 
Saturday, May 30, will also be revealed.