Joseph Edward Root (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer who is the current captain of the England Test team. He also represents Yorkshire domestically. He was originally a right-handed opening batsman and occasional off-spinner, with a similar playing style to former England captain Michael Vaughan. However, he has played the majority of his cricket for England in the middle order. He fields predominantly at second slip or gully. On 6 August 2015, Root became top ranked Test batsmen in the world for the first time aged 24. On 10 August 2015, he reached a Test batting rating of 917, his career high rating.
He made his debut for England in the 2012 Test series in India and made his ODI and Twenty20 International debuts on the same tour, before scoring his maiden Test century at his home ground of Headingley the following spring against New Zealand. He is currently ranked third in Test batting and second in ODI batting rankings according to the ICC Player Rankings.
In 2014, Martin Crowe called Root one of the young Fab Four of Test Cricket along with Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli.
Root is the elder son of Helen and Matt Root and grew up in Dore, near Sheffield. He has a younger brother Billy, who plays cricket for Nottinghamshire. Root became engaged to his girlfriend Carrie Cotterell in March 2016; their son, Alfred William Root, was born on 7 January 2017. He supports football team Sheffield United.
