Root sets new batting benchmark for England in Tests

Joe Root has broken the record for the most Test runs in a calendar year by an Englishman, passing fellow Yorkshireman Michael Vaughan's mark of 1,481 during the evening session of the first Vodafone Ashes Test in Brisbane.

In his 25th innings of the year, Root also bettered the 1,477 Test runs he scored in 2016, and as the final session of the day wore on, the figure of 1,500 – a figure only seven Test players have reached in a calendar year – looked there for the taking.

Root's record-breaking 2021 has included six hundreds and began in spectacular fashion in Sri Lanka, where he made 228 and 186 in consecutive Tests.

He followed those scores with 218 in the first Test against India in Chennai in early February, before the right-hander set about piling on hundreds in three straight Tests, again against India: 109 at Trent Bridge, 180no at Lord's and 121 at Headingley.

But the England skipper's Ashes series began in somewhat familiar fashion when he was out to Josh Hazlewood for the eighth time, registering his fourth duck in his past eight innings against Australia.

In today's second innings however, the 30-year-old patiently negotiated a testing first-up spell from Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, scoring just one from his first 11 balls before taking 25 from his next 28.

While one of his four boundaries was edged through the cordon off Cummins, his others were all cases of the England No.4 capitalising on misjudgements in length from Australia's bowlers, and at tea he was level with Vaughan's 2002 mark of 1,481 runs.

Just after the break, he made the record his own when he moved to 27 by gently pulling Nathan Lyon behind square for a single.

Speaking before the series, Ricky Ponting said he expected the adjustments Root had made to his technique – predominantly regarding his trigger movement – would suit Australian conditions, but the true test for the Englishman, who is still to score a Test century on these shores, would come from the pressure the home side applies.

"I think the changes will stand up anywhere in the world, because it's made him a better player already," he says.

"But you've also got to see those changes against the best, and if you look at the best bowling attacks in the world right now, Hazlewood and Cummins will be two of the first names that anyone talks about.

"He's going to know when he turns up that Cummins and Hazlewood were all over him last time, and he's going to have to make sure that under that pressure, he can still make all those trigger movements and make the right decisions.

"It's how you react, how your thinking allows your body to move. If he's tight, if he's under pressure, then his movements won't be as good as if he's 60 or 70 not out and freewheeling.

"And there's no doubt as a captain, as their best player, more and more pressure is going to come on him.

"There's probably more pressure on him now than ever because he hasn't got the class of player around him that he's had on other tours as well … (and) if their top order doesn't get off to a good start early in the series, more and more pressure mounts on him.

"So we'll see if the technical changes stand up under that sort of scrutiny."

Most Test runs in a calendar year (England)

Joe Root 2021* | 1,482 runs- in 13 matches | 6x100s | Ave: 64.43 | HS: 228

Michael Vaughan 2002 | 1,481 runs in 14 matches | 6x100s | Ave: 61.70 | HS: 197

Joe Root 2016 | 1,477 runs in 17 matches | 3x100s | Ave 49.23 | HS 254

Jonny Bairstow 2016 | 1,470 runs in 17 matches | 3x100s | Ave: 58.80 | HS: 167no

Joe Root 2015 | 1,385 runs in 14 matches | 3x100s | Ave: 60.21 | HS: 182no

*At 27no

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, TBC