Test Match Special - Joe’s route to success

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

2024 is going to be a memorable year for Joe Root. He became England’s highest ever run scorer, and overtook Sir Alastair Cook’s Test century record for England too, but how did that feel and how did he get there?In his own words, along with England captain Ben Stokes and friend & longtime teammate Jimmy Anderson, he talks us through his incredible year, and how he came to be one of England’s greats.

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for a man who has made 2024 his own. And Joe Root goes to 34 test hundreds. And Joe Root has done it. He's become the highest scoring Englishman in test match history. And that is a double hundred for Joe Root. To come, will be hearing from his England captain,

the man who took the roll over from him, Ben Stokes, as well as long-time friend and teammate Jimmy Anderson, who for the second half of this year has had the pleasure of watching on from the England dressing room. But first, let's hear from the man himself. Joe Root takes us out to the middle during the innings that brought his highest test score, 262, in Moulthane in October. I think whenever you find yourself going out to bat,

you try not to get too consumed in what you're doing and what your individual scores are. It's more about how you're going to get your team into a position where you can go and win the game or get yourself back into contention. So that was pretty much all trying to focus on was putting that at the forefront of my mind, building the partnerships that get you to that position

and then taking it on from there. It was really hot out there, to be fair. I had to draw on Brookie at the other end for most of it. We've worked together. We've played a lot of cricket together. to spend a long time with someone that you're comfortable with out there and you enjoy each other's company and you can make a good laughing a joke about things in the middle

is, I think, is a really nice thing to be able to have. But, yeah, that's part of the fun is you sometimes have to test yourself. It brings different challenges, different things out of your game and yourself. And thankfully, that was a day where we both managed to go and do something pretty special, pretty cool. He seems so focused, doesn't he, on wrestling his team back into this game. I think the dressing room actually there we're going quite hard for it actually

but Joe Root is a man with other things on his mind at the moment saving this team in this test match I was aware of it I was made quite aware of it and I think it really sunk in

when Alistair Cook who previously held the record gave me a call at the end of the game it's a really nice thing of him to do someone that's been a bit of a mentor and someone to look up to for a long time as a kid coming into the

he was captain, always looked after me, always got on really well with each other. And it's always been nice to have him, even though he's not playing anymore, still to talk to about the game. And, yeah, it was nice for him to take the time, wake up at whatever it was back in England and give me a nice call

and share that with him. Taps his back down. He gives himself room. He calls it out to the cover. And Joe Root goes to 34, test. hundreds. He jumps in the air. He raises his back to the crowd. Everyone up on their feet. To witness a man do something that no other England player has done before. We salute you, Joe Root. He is quite simply England's greatest. And it's absolutely right. He should have

the record on his own. Take it in. We are watching a genius. It was never something I sat out to do. I remember walking out to bat for the first time and I just felt like a 12-year-old kid. I was so happy to be there. It's something that I'd always dreamt of was playing for England,

getting the opportunity just to play one test match was everything me and my brother grew up doing, whether it was in the back garden, on the driveway, at the local sports club, on the outfield, getting told off and knocking balls in the middle of my dad's getting. games, we were always playing our own little test match. So to walk out there finally and get the chance to play for England was just an incredible

feeling. And more than like chasing records and stuff, I've generally been trying to chase that feeling of being 12 years old and remembering the pure enjoyment and that, I suppose that naivety of youth really when you're playing and, you know, you rack up a couple of games or you might be under a little bit of pressure because you've not before. as well as you'd like, just remember how much fun it is. When you wake up in the morning and you pull the curtains back at that age, you're just praying it's not raining so you can go out and play.

So to try and turn up to every day, practice, every game, and try and just harness that sort of that inner youngster that's just got that pure joy of playing the sport. I play to win, I want to be a part of a team that wins, and you want to be successful within that, of course, but there is a bigger picture to things and I think if you enjoy doing what you're doing it makes things so much more fun

it makes it so much more easy to want to get better and when you do have challenging days to want to come back again and this might sound quite negative but someone that I don't like to set too many statistical goals or numbers of so many different variants that can maybe make that an unrealistic, achievement. So for me, it's more about how can I get better

and how can I do that in a way that keeps that enjoyment factor that is going to bring the best out of myself and my game. You obviously get more comfortable in the environment the more you play and, you know, things change, the team changes. You make good friends and you play for a long time with certain players and they move on

and then you have to build new relationships. But I think that's all part of the part of the journey, part of the fun part of it is you get the opportunity to make friends for life within that group of players and there are guys that have played before that I will stay in touch with for the rest of my life and I'm sure within this current team as well

which I think is a really special thing I think cricket's quite unique in it's a sport where you spend a lot of time together you're away from home for long periods of time you know up to 10 weeks on certain tours so you have to be comfortable with each other and you have to find a way of getting on with each other and understanding each other really well.

And thankfully, the majority of my career, the teams that I've played in have all been, had a really good, sort of close-knit way of operating, and we all really enjoy each other's company, which makes life so much easier, but it makes it almost that little bit more enjoyable. You're not just looking forward to what you can achieve together on the field, but there's so many other great things

when you're touring the world that you can go and explore and do with one another off it as well. Into him now, wide delivery that he drives through the offside, the role will tell you, the punch of the gloves will tell you.

And the message of Root going right around the ground tells you as well that the former England captain as he takes off his helmet kisses the badge, raises that bat for the 30 second time in a test match

to reach 100 for England There was always a dream to go on and play for England whether I'd sort of wanted it so much that I'd convinced myself that it was a serious reality I think it kind of worked in my favour almost

I just wanted to firstly go on and represent Yorkshire do as well as I couldn't and see where my game got to and I was very fortunate at a very young age I had a number of coaches that saw something in me first see Kevin Sharp at Yorkshire

and then before I'd even made a first class 100 in domestic cricket in England Graham Thorpe saw something in my ability in a game that played against Surrey when he was coached there picked me on an England Lions tour

and I worked tireless with me for probably the next 10 to 12 years trying to improve me as a player life lessons as well but I end up becoming quite close with him and he did some wonderful things in helping shape me and become the player that I've become today. So I'm hugely grateful

and will always be in his debt for everything that he gave to my game and helped me along the way. In terms of working hard and finding ways that wanted to get better, I think that's part of the thing that I still enjoy now is that you never feel like you've completed the game. there's always something else. Teams have got so much information and knowledge now, they can work you out,

and they'll see trends and ways in which you get dismissed frequently and try and exploit that. So you've always got to keep evolving and wanting to get better. And when I was younger, it was slightly different. I was quite a late developer physically, so I had to find different ways of scoring runs, which, you know, I wasn't as strong and as powerful as guys my own age. It took me a little bit longer to get to that physical sort of,

And it meant that, you know, I had to be quite smart and cute about how I was going to manipulate the ball and find different ways of scoring. And I think when I finally did grow and got to be similar to everyone else, I had a different side of my game, which then I could implement alongside a more sort of way that everyone else plays. If I wanted to be there and playing, then I was going to have to find a different way of doing it to how everyone else did it. and hopefully that, well, people might have seen the way that I've done it, that we're in a similar sort of position and not feel like I'm never going to be able to do it. There is a different route and there's different ways of going out and making runs in different formats of the game. It's an incredible honour to being the captain and I've loved every single minute of being it.

You know, I'll miss that, but it's a job you need to do it at 100% and you need to be committed to everything to do. There's an expectancy that it's almost certain to be. Joe Root. Is that the case? Have you already effectively decided you just don't want to tell us yet? No, I don't think that's true. As I said, there's a process to go through. Joe's been playing, he's been vice captain for a while now.

I think he's had some leadership experience in that role. Obviously, he's a phenomenal cricketer and a very influential person in the dressing room. So there's no reason why he wouldn't be one of the strong candidates, but I don't want to rule anyone in or out at this stage. I wouldn't say captaincy was an ambition of mine.

I'd say it's something that naturally representing your country, and leading your country out is every kid's dream, I think. But when you get to playing professional cricket and playing in the international side, it's not something that I didn't chase anyway. It was something that sort of came to me naturally and in terms of passing it over from cookie.

I thoroughly enjoyed that, and I was so proud to get the chance to lead England out on as many occasions as I. did and it's something I look back on with fondness although it didn't finish in a way that I would you know like we obviously had a tough couple of years through COVID where we spent a lot of time in sort of biosecure bubbles and we're away from family for long periods of time which did take its toll on the group and and me as well and our performances as well so we went through a little bit of a rough phase and

I got to a stage where it kind of wore me down to a point where it was time for someone else to do it and the team needed a refreshing up and a new voice, a new vision and, you know, Ben's taken over and done a wonderful job and it's been so nice to come into

back into that team. I think when you've led it for a while, you can be a little bit apprehensive and sort of worried about how you're going to fit back into things but the group have been amazing at just letting me get back into things and become one of the boys again and it's been probably the most enjoyable couple of years of my career so as much as I loved it and as much as you know I was so proud to get

the opportunity to do it I know that I can look back at it and say I threw everything at it I gave it my all you know there are times where I had some good success and we had good success as a team and I'm very proud of that and there are times where we didn't quite get it as as we'd have liked, but, you know, threw everything at it, and, you know, I can sit here today and say that, you know, I couldn't have given it anything more to it. So I'm quite enjoying now, being back in the fold, if you like, and playing under Ben and Brandon, who I think had taken the team in a really exciting and fun direction for not just to play, but to watch as well, which I think everyone's goal, when you play professional sport, you are entertainers,

you are performers. And, you know, you want people. people to be excited to come and turn up and watch the games and go away with a big smile on the face talking about what they've seen that day. So hopefully we can continue to do that and I can be a part of that for a while yet. Despite Joe's progress from Sheffield to Yorkshire to England to world number one batsman for a time, he's already scored 11 test centuries and plays all three forms of the game. Still, there are concerns. He has only rarely led his county and might root the captain compromise route the run maker. I got to a stage where you almost feel like your day

and your performance is affected by how everyone else does and it can sort of, it can affect the way that you approach your own individual training when you're captain. So, you know, for the last little while, it's been able to look at the game slightly differently, have a more setback view on things, and as well, try and work with some of the same. the younger players a bit more closely.

I think when you're captain, some of the guys can be guarded. They don't want to let too much vulnerability in towards you because it might, in their eyes, affect their selection or decision-making higher-up. So to get to work with those players and try and offer a little bit of my knowledge and what I know about the game and batting has been really enjoyable for me as a senior player. So it's just been nice to have a completely different outlook on the game. even having played it for so long to sort of have a new role

where you still feel like you can offer so much to the group but you're not necessarily involved in all the decision making and you have got time to put the thinking time and the physical time into your own batting to get where you need to be to perform well every game and here is Maharaj, round the wicket there both root, root panels, there it is

that is 100, it's coming down to line leg being pursued down there by Rabada. He picks it up triple yards in from the fence and they come back for three runs. So Rout has got his 12th test hundred. I remember almost exactly 12 months ago being on the air when he hit a 200 here at Lords. So he's my man, a brilliant innings, allowing him a little few blemishes early on. His first innings of England captain, 100. He takes his helmet off.

He waves his bat. My goodness me, he must be a happy man. I think when you win as a captain, the highs are really high. You know, you look around the dressing room and you see everyone enjoying a series win and, you know, that feels really, it feels really good. You know, really rewarding that, you know, you've come together, you've worked very hard, you've planned for it and then you've been able to execute. And clearly it's pretty much the other end of the spectrum when it goes either way.

But the key is trying to stay as consistent. consistent and as level as you can in yourself and in how you operate. And I think that's all you can judge yourself on ultimately is you're not everything's going to go your own way. You're not always going to perform as well as the opposition. And sometimes you come up against better teams, which is hard to admit and hard to say, but it's how you respond from that and how you then look at improving yourself and the team around you.

I spent too much time thinking things away from the ground and away from cricket and I was taking it home and it was affecting my life at home it was affecting my relationships with I wasn't as present as a wannabe as a father and as a husband at home

and when that sort of started to become a reality to me and not just the people around me then I realised that it was time to let it go as much as I loved doing it and as much as it was a massive thing in my life it's obviously not as big as my family and the ones that are close to me and that I love. So it was time to sort of say bye to that chapter of my cricketing career

and get back to just enjoying the sport for the purity of batting and the purity of the game itself. And I'm so lucky in the fact that I've got such a wonderful support network. I've got a wife who's superwoman, she literally has had to put up with so much different stuff throughout my career and the time that we've been together from everything that I had to deal with as England captain. The highs and

the lows of everything else that surrounded it and then we've got two kids seven and four Alfred and Bella and they're just amazing but to have to try and live I guess that lifestyle around an international cricket lifestyle where you're away from home a lot

you ask a lot of your wife and she's been just incredible in terms of all the support she's been able to give to me, everything that I bring home from cricket, having to deal with the tough days and pick me back off of the canvas, but also to just be a brilliant mom

and almost a single parent for chunks at a time, you know, along with help from both our families, is a big ask, and she's obviously sacrificed a lot for me to go out and play for England. And, you know, I'm extremely proud of her for everything that she does as mother to our amazing kids. I'm so proud that she's my wife. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. The Dakar Rally is the ultimate off-road challenge.

Perfect for the ultimate defender. The high-performance defender, Octa, 626 horsepower twin turbo V8 engine and intelligence. 6D Dynamics Air Suspension. Learn more at landrover.ca. We'll hear more from Joe Root a little later, but let's get the thoughts of test captain Ben Stokes on England's highest ever run scorer in test match cricket. Teammates for over a decade, Stokes tells us what it's like being out in the middle with Root. So obviously Joe bats ahead of me in the order, and whenever I'm going out to bat to meet Joe, I mean, I'm pretty chill and relaxed anyway going out there, but Joe always. always screeches you a bit of a smile, a bit of a laugh, touch gloves like every batsman do to each other,

and then just pretty much crack on. We've played cricket for so long together now, age group stuff, played a lot of cricket for England together as well. So there's not too much that goes on conversation-wise out there. He's always got a smile on his face, and that's him. He's been the same ever since he first represented in England. You know, he's played 140, 150.

test matches now when, you know, his attitude towards batten has never changed, but he's always got a smile on his face, whatever's going on. He's such a great advocate for the game. He's an amazing role model for the next generation of cricketers coming through to look up to and aspire to be, the way in which he handles himself on the field, off the field, and then you add to his, and then you add all that to his unbelievable abilities as a player. Just someone who, if you're son or daughter was aspiring to be a cricketer and they said, I want to be Joe Root. I don't think as a parent would be too disappointed with that.

Salman Aliaga into Joe Root, who works this ball into the leg side, just out to deep backward square leg, takes a single. And that is a double hundred for Joe Root. The accolades keep coming for England's premier batter. I remember I was sat next to Marcus Drosothic and Joe had probably faced about 20 balls. and I said he's booking himself in for a big one here and a day and a half later he's on 260 so yeah I called that pretty early

sometimes you just you get a feeling and you just know the amount of times that I've heard Joe he's even told me as well he says I'm getting 100 today he's got this real steel and meaning in his voice when he says it and I know he scored 33 or 34 test hundreds but it's amazing the amount of times he said he's getting one before he's got it

because boy that when he gets something when he's so determined to get something that he knows is going to benefit the team usually it's very very hard to stop the man doing what he does it's sort of around training when he might just drop a little I'm getting under this week you're like all right standard standard for Joe but but no like it just unfolded as it did I mean he obviously had Harry Brooke at the other end as well doing what he does

but Joe just went on his merry way and cruised to 260 like it was nothing and then yeah walked off a little bit of sweat on him but I mean yeah he made it look incredibly easy I wish I could make 260 runs look that easy but yeah no it was it was amazing to watch I wasn't fit for that game so I was doing 12 man duties I was wearing the drinks out for the boys and had the bib on

but yeah like Joe's such a Yeah, just it doesn't like that big fuss being made about him. He knows how important he is to the team. And he just sort of likes to do what he does and keep under the radar and not have too much said about him. At the end of a day when anyone's achieved something special or we've done something special as a team, then we wrap the day up with praise and congratulating that person

or the team on certain things. And whenever we seem to come to Joey, you can just see him, like, put his head down and, like, want it to be over and done with so people can stop talking about him. But, yeah, it just takes everything in his stride. Doesn't like being in the limelight. Just enjoys going out there in scoring runs.

He's just so down to worth, so level-headed. You know, being who he is, being the name that he is, what he is to the sport, he's still the same cheeky 14-year-old that I first came across when I was 14 as well yeah he's not changed one little bit with all the success and all the fame as we say that has come from him doing what he's done out on the cricket field from england captain to england's highest ever wicket-taker jimmy andersen looks back on route's incredible year with the bat i've seen joe bat in india quite a lot and the subcontinent and he is just

He feels really at home there, I think. He looks at home. He looks comfortable. He's never panicked. And I think that was a similar sort of vibe. He was just calm. He works really hard at his game, and his game's really suited to those conditions.

So when he went out there to bat, I think everyone was confident that he was going to do well. And he's one of those guys as well, where he turns up to the ground, and he's like, I'm going to get 100 today. And I think that if we could see that he was in that sort of mood that morning. He's not very sort of stats orientated.

He doesn't look at his average every week. He just goes out there and lives in the moment and tries to perform on that given day and do his best for the team. And he also is really good at playing the situation of the game. So whatever the team needs, he kind of knows what to deliver. When a big record like that comes around, I think everyone knows about it,

but they're worried to mention it to the person that's involved with it because they don't want to jinx it. So everyone just let him make. get on with his business and go about his normal routine and then obviously when it got closer and closer all the guys were sort of edging towards the front of their seats and we're ready to congratulate him he's waiting now bat raised Jamal on his way scuttles in bowls to him and he drives straight down the ground

it's beaten the mid on fields when a chase here for him the ball's creeping towards the boundary is just going to make it and Joe Root has done it he's become the highest scoring Englishman in test match history, and he's done so undemonstrably. Does he know? I think with the heat in Pakistan during that time of year, it made batting quite testing, staying out in the middle for a long period of time. And again, Joe's shown this throughout his career where he's got that, whether it's the mental strength to be able to cope with the stresses of batting or whether it's the physical

attributes to be able to bat for long periods of time he's got that and he call on every inch of that during that game. Joe's a sort of person where he doesn't really get carried away even if he scores loads of runs even if his broken records he doesn't show too much emotion might have a cheeky grin on his face but I think he was sort of quite exhausted from the actual

batting for a long period of time but also I think he you know he's He's quite humble as well, so he was more bothered about trying to win the game for the team. The feeling in the dressing room was, it was really high energy, like everyone getting around him. But as I said, he's not that sort of person to want to hug everyone or things like that. So we let him sort of take a moment on his seat, and then obviously everyone went over to congratulate him because it is such an amazing achievement. And now in his 147th test match, he's beaten Sir Alastair Cook's record of 12,000.

and 472 runs and I must say it's highly likely that whatever Roots final tally will be it'll never be beaten first time I met Joe I thought he was he was quite cheeky like very much a practical joker giving lots of stick to the to even to the senior players but he fit into the group really well and I think everyone saw from from day one even in the how big a talent he was and how an amazing player he could be. And he's obviously gone on to show everyone that. Over the course of playing with Joe, I think he stayed very, very similar. I think when he became captain, his personality changed a little bit.

I think, you know, with the timing of his appointment, you know, he was captain through the COVID period, which was really difficult. but I think generally he's a very level person, very humble. You know, he's got a wicked sense of humour and I think he just, I think that's probably one of the reasons he's gone on so long and done what he's done for a long period of time. He's been consistent doing it as well and I think that's mainly because of his sort of level-headed nature.

Joe's got every attribute to keep going for a number of years. You know, he's showing people what he can do, but he's got the sort of attitude where he still feels he can get better and I think that's a great thing to have as a professional athlete like if the minute you think that you've cracked it then I think you can sort of

you know fall away a little bit with your form but he's someone who every time he goes to practice he's trying to get better he's not settling for what he's got what he's achieved he's always trying to push himself to be that little bit more And I think as long as he continues to do that, he can keep breaking records

and keep playing for a long period of time. Joe's futures in his hands, like he's achieved so much throughout his career. But when I look at him, he's still good enough, he's still fit enough to play for, you know, he could play for five years, he could play for 10 years if he wants. You know, he's that good,

he's that committed to his craft. And I think I'd love to see him play for as long as he can because he's someone I love watching back, I think everyone in England loves watching him back and probably people across the world. So easy on the eye. And, you know, if he keeps scoring runs in the volume that he has done over the last few years

and you can keep going for a long time. Well, I'm sure every England fan will want Joe Root to continue playing for as long as possible, not just because of the volume of runs, but also just how entertaining he's become out in the middle. He's bowling to Root. In he goes, oh, my word, what's he doing? What?

What was that? first ball of a crucial session and Joe Root has tried to reverse ramp Pat Cummins. Right, okay. And the ball's gone straight over his stumped. Just calm down, everyone. I think the game and the culture within the game

has changed quite significantly in the past few years and for the better. I look at the teams that I play now and they look at the world around them a little bit differently and a lot more aware of everything that's happening around and I think

one thing that we have that's so special about getting to tour the world is you are exposed to so many different ways of life so many different cultures

and I think it's really important that you open your eyes to that when you go on tour and you appreciate everything that's around you and you know you keep learning about everything that's around you as well

and you take that everywhere you go and I think the sport and the journey that I've been on has taught me so much about the world and about the different people that you play alongside, you play against, you meet along the way and gain a better understanding for all of that through your time as a player. Slip in a short leg.

Root on 49, Mosey in, angle towards leg and root clips it neatly along the ground through square leg, takes the single, which takes him to 50. another class knock from this high quality class batter that is Joe Root. I think how do you want to be remembered as a person? You know, you might only have one interaction with someone that's their snapshot of you as a person. I think kindness is free.

Good manners are free. They're not things that, you know, you should be paid for. So in terms of just being a good person, that should be a given. In terms of giving back for the sport, and I remember being a kid growing up and you'd queue up for autographs and stuff and some of the interactions I had with players that I grew up watching were things that I remember

for a very long time and I talk about as a player trying to remember what it was like being 12 years old I think that's another example of it is there's another 12 year out there and if by signing a little autograph you can inspire them to go and do something special for England in the future

or in the game wherever you are in the world and they can go on and take up cricket and grow the game even more, then I think you're doing a good thing for the sport. When I was growing up, the three things that were drummed into me and my brother would be kind, be polite,

and always try your best. And clearly, I was never going to be the smartest man in the world, but as long as I tried my best, As long as, no, I did it in the right way, then that was all that mattered. Brilliant achievement, congratulations, but I'm actually generally proud of you. I'm glad you did it today because they can stop talking about you when you're going to break my record. I called it, after 10 balls, you were getting 100 today.

When do you start thinking about it? Only towards the right at the back end. I think what you're always trying to do as a player is just immerse yourself in the situation and play what's right in front of you. It was a nice position to come out and batting today with us so far ahead of the game. Just having that at the forefront of your mind, having your focus completely on that makes things a lot easier. And, you know, I think it helps you manage the situation better. In terms of my future as a player, I want to keep playing for as long as I can.

I've still got that energy and that excitement. In fact, I turn up to training every day and I look forward to it. And as long as that's the case, then I'll continue wanting to, you know, well, I don't. I don't want to set a timeline on when I want to finish. So we'll see how things, it's a fickle sport. Things can change very quickly. You know, you never know physically how things are going to pan out over the next couple of years.

You can take one injury and then things can be completely derailed. So I think just more than anything is live in the moment. As Brendan, our coach says, be where your feet are and just enjoy the ride whilst, you know, whilst you're in the seat. Until that sort of flame dwindles out, I'll keep going. I wouldn't say it's a bonfire is a little bit more under control than that but it's good, it's steady, it's pretty firm.

Joe Root there at the end of an extraordinary year that's seen him become England's leading test run scorer and century maker. And there's plenty to look forward to from him in 2025 as well with the men's ashes and England's home test series against India on the horizon. His pursuit of the four batters

ahead of him in the all-time test run scoring list goes on. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you're subscribed to TMS wherever you get your podcasts from so that you don't miss a thing from us, including no balls, the cricket podcast with Alex Hartley and Kate Cross. They'll be heading down under for the women's ashes, which is right around the corner in the new year, too. Keep up to date with that on BBC Sounds, 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app. Ball by Ball commentary of the whole series starts at midnight on Sunday 12th of January. Thanks for listening. We'll speak to you soon. In the shadows of Glasgow, two crime families rose to power.

You're either with the Daniel family or you're with the Lions family. There's no in between. A brutal war for control of Glasgow's lucrative drug trade that still rages today. Police think it's the work of a criminal gang. Join me, Livy Haydock, as I investigate the battle that shattered the old school rules of crime. They're just terrorising people wherever they went. Gangster, the story of the Daniels and the Lions. Listen on BBC Sounds.