2026-04-19 09:31:18
Joe Root will never feel “a sense of completion” as a cricketer.
The England batter ticked off one of the final major accomplishments of his career by scoring a first century in Australia during the Ashes last year but insists that his work in the game is never truly finished.
Root told Wisden Cricket magazine: “I don’t think there’s ever a sense of completion.
“It’s not like you’re playing golf or tennis, it’s a game where you’re a cog in a bigger part of the machinery, and if you want to be a success you’ve got to make sure you’re doing your job correctly and encouraging everyone else to do it too. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to get to where you want to get to.”
Root’s failure to notch a 100 in Australia had been the subject of much discussion during the lead-up to The Ashes and he confessed that he felt a sense of “relief” when he reached three figures in Brisbane last December.
England’s all-time leading Test run scorer said: “I was quite at peace with it. I know I’m a good player, and if I continued to keep playing well and getting in, I would go on to make big runs that would help us, and that has always been the focus.
“It has never really been about individually getting across the line in Australia. I’m thankful I’ve managed to do it now, it was the relief that once you get across the line, thank God that’s off my back now, and people can talk about something else.”
Root has represented England’s test team since 2012 – serving as captain from 2017 to 2022 – and explained that he often thinks back to his childhood experiences of cricket when he is going through tough periods with the bat.
He said: “If you’re having a tough time out in the middle, remember what it was like being a kid and that raw emotion of cracking one out of the middle, opening the curtains in the morning and praying that it’s not raining because you love the game that much.
“It’s about reinforcing and remembering the reasons why you play it.”
Visit Bang Premier (main website)
