Joe Root named Leading Cricket of the World

Joe Root named Leading Cricket of the World

Web Desk
April 21, 2022

Joe Root named Leading Cricket of the World

Former England test skipper Joe Root has been named the Leading Cricket of the World in the 2022 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

Root stepped down as the skipper last week. He succeeded Ben Stokes who captained the team in 2020-21.

The right-hand batsman has scored 1,708 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 60 during 2021. However, has not been able to do well with the bat as England managed to win only one match out of the last 15 under his captaincy.

“Root rose above the struggles of England’s Test side to produce one of the all-time great performances in a calendar year,” Lawrence Booth, Wisden’s editor, said.

“His 1,708 runs have been beaten only by Mohammad Yousuf in 2006 and Viv Richards in 1976, and included six hundreds. And he scored his runs in his fifth year as England captain, at which point many of his predecessors had already called it a day.”

England won two tests out of eight against India in 2021. With this in mind, two Indian players, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma, have been named among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. This honor is attained only once in a career.

“Jasprit Bumrah was central to India’s two Test wins last summer, taking three for 33 on the final afternoon at Lord’s, then thrillingly bowling Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow in successive overs to hasten his team to victory at The Oval,” Booth says.

“Had rain not washed out the last day of the First Test at Trent Bridge, his nine wickets there might have led to an Indian win, too. In all, he managed 18 wickets at 20 apiece in the four Tests, and scored some unexpected – and crucial – tailend runs.

Credits: John Wisden & Co

“Rohit Sharma was at the heart of his side’s 2-1 lead over England, and played starring roles with the bat at Lord’s, where he made an elegant 83 in treacherous conditions, and at The Oval, where his superb 127 helped India overcome a first-innings deficit of 99,” Booth added.

“His series tally of 368 runs at 52 was higher than any of his team-mates.”

Two other international recipients were New Zealand opener Devon Conway, whose 200 on debut at Lord’s set the tone for his team’s 1-0 series win ahead of their World Test Championship final victory over India at the Ageas Bowl in June; and South African allrounder Dane van Niekerk, who captained the Oval Invincibles to victory in the inaugural Women’s Hundred, a competition Booth said had “changed the face of women’s cricket in England.

Ollie Robinson, England’s lone Cricketer of the Year, made his mark as an incisive seam bowler in his inaugural home season, taking 28 wickets at 19.60, but whose debut against New Zealand was marred by off-field scandal.

“On the second morning of the summer’s first Test, Ollie Robinson returned to fine leg, earning applause from spectators: less than rapturous, more than polite, it sounded like a show of support,” Booth wrote.

“The previous evening, he had read out an apology after old tweets surfaced in which he insulted Muslims, women and Asians. And a few hours before that, he and other England players lined up wearing anti-discrimination T-shirts. For the ECB, scrambling to be on the right side of history, the timing was horrific.”

Elsewhere in the Almanack, two other players are honoured for their performances in 2021. South Africa’s Lizelle Lee is named as the Leading Woman Cricketer in the World, after scoring more runs in 11 ODIs (632) at a higher average (90) than any other player.

Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan is named as the Leading Twenty20 Cricketer in the World, following a world-record 2,036 runs in all 20-over matches, at an average of 56.