England lost the Ashes in humiliating fashion on Tuesday but an incredible 12 months with the bat for Joe Root, the captain ended the calendar year with the third-highest Test runs in history.
Being dismissed for 28 on the third day of the third Test in Melbourne, he scored 1,708 runs for the year, at an average of 61.00, surpassed only by Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf (1,788 in 2006) and West Indies legend Viv Richards (1,710 in 1976). lagged behind.
More questions will be asked about his captaincy after England are well beaten by Australia again, but Root is in great form with the bat in 2021.
He scored 1,600 runs in the second Test in Adelaide, surpassing the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, and then overcame South Africa’s Graeme Smith (1,656 in 2008) in Melbourne.
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However, Root had far more innings than both Yusuf and Richards to put up with a total of 29 to 19.
And the 30-year-old Yorkshireman is still on the hunt for his first Ashes century in Australia. He has to do two more tests.
“I think I probably wanted it too much, I was too desperate and it probably had a negative effect on the way I played, I put too much pressure on myself,” he said of his desire to be successful in Australia. last state.
The extent to which England has relied on Root this year is a testament to the figures.
Second in the pecking order is opener Rory Burns, who scored 530 at 27.89 this year, then Jonny Bairstow with 391 at 24.43.
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