“As a batter you are generally playing a mental game most of the time and having too long to prepare can work against you - you can almost fry yourself out before a Test match or feel slightly fatigued two games in because you have spent too long preparing.”

English international cricketer, born 1990

Joe Root is an English international cricketer, born in 1990. He plays Tests and ODIs for England, represents Yorkshire in domestic cricket, and has been reappointed captain of the Test side, after first leading it from 2017 to 2022. Root is known as a prolific run-scorer and, by March 2026, had become the leading scorer among active batsmen, England’s highest run-scorer, and the second-highest run-scorer in Test history. He was part of England’s 2019 Cricket World Cup-winning team, where he scored the most runs for England, and he has topped the ICC Test batting rankings ten times.