Joe Root‘s relief was right there on his face when he declared Ashes selection as “not my concern anymore”. Joe Root, the England captain from 2017 to 2022 whose fine run of form was a key feature of the recent drawn home Test series with India, which captivated even the most casual of followers, scarcely drew a breath before launching into the Hundred with Trent Rockets.
But it all forms part of his evolution, which has him enjoying one of his best seasons to date and playing with greater freedom, ahead of his first Ashes series in Australia unburdened by the captaincy since 2013.
Joe Root’s two subsequent Test tours of Australia featured plenty of off-field drama that he had to deal with as skipper including, in his words, the post-Covid restrictions surrounding the 2021-22 series, for which Ben Stokes was added to the squad after an injury lay-off just 10 days before they departed.
Before that, Stokes missed the 2017-18 Ashes in the aftermath of the Bristol nightclub affair and Jonny Bairstow was embroiled in a bizarre “headbutt incident” (inverted commas gestured by Joe Root) with Australia’s Cameron Bancroft which turned out to be a proverbial storm.
Joe Root was the second-highest run-scorer in the India series with 537 at 67.12. His innings-to-century ratio in Tests for 2025 is the best it’s been in a calendar year at 3.33 and his conversion rate is also superior after turning three of his four 50-plus scores into centuries. The other was an unbeaten 53 in a successful run chase as England went 1-0 up in the India series.
In terms of batting average, Joe Root’s 63.44 for 2025 so far is his third-best after 2014 (97.12) and 2023 (65.58) in years where he has scored 100 runs or more. During India’s visit, Joe Root also moved to No. 2 on the all-time leading run-scorer’s chart, after Sachin Tendulkar, and posted his 39th century in the format, putting him fourth behind Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting. But, after 158 Tests, Joe Root said it wasn’t so much the milestones that kept him going.
English batter Joe Root is eager to notch his first century and victory in Australia when he goes Down Under for the upcoming Ashes later this year. Joe Root, who became the second-highest Test run-scorer of all-time during the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, averages 35.68 in Australia, but has not managed to reach three figures in three tours to the country. His highest score on those tours in 89, scored at Brisbane during the 2021-22 Ashes.
Joe Root has not won a Test in Australia in any of his three tours either. This includes two tours (2017/18 and 2021) as captain, both of which ended in 4-0 defeats.Reflecting on those tours, Joe Root said: “There were a lot of distractions,” referring to the last two Ashes series in Australia. Australian batter Steve Smith is in all praise for Joe Root as a test batter and has lauded him for his batting prowess in the red ball format.
Steve Smith is in all praise for English batter Joe Root ahead of Ashes 2025-26
Australian star Steve Smith, speaking to Sky Sports Cricket, acknowledged Root’s remarkable form in recent years, but noted the glaring absence of a century Down Under in the English batter’s record. However, the former Australia skipper believes that it is something that Root will be eager to tick off his bucket list in the forthcoming season.
“In the last two years, he has been incredible. His ability to make big scores- to go from 50 to a hundred- which was one thing he, you know, he got caught in that 50 to 100 spot for quite a while. Now, he’s just making it count and going on and making huge scores. He hasn’t scored a 100 in Australia, that’s being talked about quite a lot. I am sure that is something that he wants to tick off his bucket list,” Smith said on Sky Sports.
Steve Smith added that Australian conditions could once again prove challenging for batters, especially those at the top of the order.
“Like I said, it’ll be tricky for batting, tricky for top order batters so from an Australian point of view, hopefully he does not get a 100 this time, but I know he’ll be working hard for it, that’s for sure,” Smith said.
The upcoming Ashes starts on November 21 with the series opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth and Joe Root with in a form of his lifetime would be eager to score his first century on the Australian soil.
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