Joe Root leans back in his chair, offers the hint of a smile and delivers the line with the calm of a man who’s seen it all.
“I’ve got 14,000 runs for a reason.”
The numbers say one thing. Root, as ever, answers with the long view.
A giant in a lean summer
By his own standards, this has been a scratchy English summer. Two scores over 50, an average of 29.44 – his second-lowest in a home season across a 14-year international career. For most batters, that’s respectable. For England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer, it feels like a blip you can see from space.
He has also been nailed lbw nine times in his past seven Tests, seven of those this summer alone. It is a pattern, and elite players hate patterns when they involve their off stump and a raised finger.
Yet Root doesn’t sound rattled. Irritated, yes. Intrigued, certainly. But not spooked.
“I’ve played this game a long time and I’ve always found ways of solving those problems and working it through,” he told BBC’s Today at the Test. “I don’t see this as being any different.”
That’s the core of it. Root has 14,208 Test runs, second only to Sachin Tendulkar in the format’s history. You don’t get there by cruising through untroubled summers.
The lbw trend that won’t go away
The dismissals have followed a clear pattern. Right-arm seamers, ball pitched outside off, nipping back into him. Not thunderbolts either, but bowlers operating around 84mph, using skill rather than raw speed to sneak past his bat and into the pad.
Since Jhye Richardson trapped him in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, the lbws have piled up: nine in 12 innings, all to pace. What was once a throwaway line has turned into a running theme.
Last summer, David Warner couldn’t resist a jab, joking that Root would need to “take the surfboard off his front leg” if he wanted success in the Ashes. At that point, the numbers didn’t back Warner up. From August 2022 to the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne that December, Root had fallen lbw to seamers only three times in Test cricket.
The real cluster has come since. Now the question follows him around like a fielder at short leg.
Root accepts there is a trend. He also points to the margins.
“There are probably four umpires’ calls within that, which could have gone the other way, and the ball is probably deviating more than it ever has,” he said. Frustration, yes, but framed with the detail of a man who has replayed each dismissal in his mind.
Conditions, craft and a changing ball
This has been a difficult English summer for batting. Cloud overhead, grass underfoot, and seamers who don’t need a second invitation. Root has been quick to highlight the challenge not just for himself, but for anyone walking out with a bat.
He also raised an eyebrow at the tools of the trade. To his eye, the Dukes ball has behaved differently.
“The balls have been different this summer,” he said. “I think there is a different lacquer. They were worried about it going out of shape. They are denting surfaces more.”
If the lacquer is harder and the ball is staying in shape longer, it swings and seams for longer. For a player who thrives on late decision-making, that extra jag can turn a leave into an lbw in a heartbeat.
Dukes, contacted by the BBC, denied any change to their process. Root’s point, though, speaks to a batter trying to piece together every variable: his own technique, the opposition plans, and the behaviour of a ball he’s faced thousands of times.
Work, evolution and a familiar resolve
Strip away the numbers and the technical chat, and you’re left with Root’s core belief: problems are there to be solved.
“You’re never given anything in this game,” he said. “You have to work for everything. You have to keep working hard and I’ll certainly keep doing that.”
This is not a player in denial. It’s a player who has rebuilt, tinkered and adapted across nearly 15 years at the top. From early-career fidgeting to the more compact, authoritative version that dominated attacks around the world, Root has repeatedly remodelled himself without losing his essence.
“You’re constantly going to get challenged and you’re constantly going to have to look to evolve and learn,” he added. “That’s never been something I’ve shied away from and I certainly won’t be doing moving forward.”
For all the lbws, the confidence remains unshaken.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll get through the other side. I’m not too concerned about that.”
Faith from those who know
Outside the dressing room, those who have captained England before him share that conviction. Michael Vaughan, who has watched Root’s journey from prodigy to statesman, sees a familiar story.
“He’s always overcome problems and I’m pretty sure he’ll overcome this one,” Vaughan said. “It is an issue because it’s happening on a regular basis, but he’s had issues in the past that he’s managed to come back from. There’s no question he’ll be fine in time.”
That’s the thing about great players. Their slumps are dissected in forensic detail, but they rarely last as long as the panic around them.
Root knows that. He has the scars, the runs and the perspective to prove it. The lbws will keep coming until he finds the answer. History says he will.
And when he does, the scoreboards will start moving again – and this strange, jagging summer will look like just another problem he worked his way through.
