Root hits record 34th Test century, eyes more runs

Root attributed part of his success to the more swashbuckling approach

• Pramod Thomas
• 01 September, 2024

By: Pramod Thomas

JOE ROOT said he had lost none of his desire to score runs for his country and get better as a player after compiling his 34th test century on Saturday (31) at Lord’s in the second test against Sri Lanka.

Root’s second hundred of the match put his team in a strong position to clinch the series and took him to the top of the list of England test centurions.

“I feel like there’s a lot more work to be done and a lot more to contribute still,” Root told reporters.

“As a player you pride yourself on affecting games and trying to contribute to winning causes, and the last few years I’ve obviously had a good time of it.

“You’ve just got to keep putting the work in and trying to continue doing that and adding to what is a really exciting team,” he said.

Root attributed part of his success to the more swashbuckling approach the team have adopted under coach Brendon McCullum and regular captain Ben Stokes.

“The way we look at the game now is so fun to be around, to be a part of, and it’s an environment where you see guys come in and thrive. And even as a senior player that gives you so much energy and you continue wanting to add and evolve and get better,” he said.

“Teams have got so much knowledge and information now that you can’t be happy with where you’re at, and you can’t be expecting to play the same way all the time.”

Root added that it was important to have the time to improve your game.

“The last little while, I feel like I’ve had a good balance of wanting to get better and evolving, but not trying too much too quickly – I guess that’s the art of it,” he said.

Root, who made 143 in the first innings to move level with the previous England record of 33 hundreds held by the retired Alastair Cook, went to a century on Saturday’s third day when he cut Lahiru Kumara for the 10th four off 111 balls faced.

It meant Root surpassed his fellow former England captain’s mark. It is Root’s 145th Test compared to Cook’s career tally of 161 matches.

Root’s seventh Test hundred at Lord’s also gave him sole possession of the record for the most Test centuries at the ‘Home of Cricket’ he had shared with the England duo of Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan, who both managed six apiece.

Root also became the fourth batsman to have scored hundreds in both innings of a Test at Lord’s, joining the West Indies’ George Headley (1939), Gooch (1990) and Vaughan (2004).

Root’s latest century also moved him into joint-sixth place in an all-time list of Test century-makers headed by India great Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 51 hundreds in 200 Tests from 1989-2013.

The 33-year-old Root is the only batsman in this group who is still an active Test cricketer.

Most Test hundreds (number of hundreds, matches, player, team (s), span):

51 200 Sachin Tendulkar IND 1989-2013

45 166 Jacques Kallis RSA 1995-2013

41 168 Ricky Ponting AUS 1995-2012

38 134 Kumar Sangakkara SRI 2000-2015

36 164 Rahul Dravid IND/ICC 1996-2012

34 118 Younis Khan PAK 2000-2017

34 125 Sunil Gavaskar IND 1971-1987

34 131 Brian Lara WIS/ICC 1990-2006

34 149 Mahela Jayawardene SRI 1997-2014

34 145 Joe Root ENG 2012 –

33 161 Alastair Cook ENG 2006-2018

Hundreds in both innings of a Test at Lord’s (scores, player, team, opposition, year):

106 and 107 George Headley WIS v ENG 1939

333 and 123 Graham Gooch ENG v IND 1990

103 and 101 no Michael Vaughan ENG v WIS 2004

143 and 103 Joe Root ENG v SRI 2024

(Agencies)