Is Joe Root actually the greatest English batsman ever?
Joe Root has been acclaimed as the greatest English batsman ever, but is it actually true? Paul Ormerod delves into the stats
Joe Root has delighted cricket fans for well over a decade. In the recent Test match against India, he moved into second place in the all-time world list of total number of Test match runs scored.
This performance has led many to acclaim Root as the greatest English batsman ever.
But is this the case? The question is not just about cricket. It raises general issues of the need to understand the background to statistics, how they are produced and in what context they appeared.
What the stats say
Root is certainly a strong contender. But in the 21st century many more Test matches are played compared to even 50 years ago. Great players from the past simply did not have the opportunity to amass so many runs.
This is why the average number of runs scored per innings needs to be taken into account as well as the sheer number of runs scored.
Basic statistics are decisive in determining the greatest ever Test batsman. That laurel falls unequivocally to the Australian Don Bradman. In terms of players whose careers have ended, only five have an average exceeding 60. Four of these are between 60 and 62. Bradman averaged 99.94.
Judging the best English batsman is a bit more tricky. Root’s batting average is an impressive 51.17. But there are seven players whose careers are over who have averaged more.
One candidate is the Surrey opening batsman Jack Hobbs. In the course of a long career between 1905 and 1934, he not only averaged 56.94 in Tests, but accumulated the highest number of first class career runs of anyone in the world, a total of 61,760.
It is hard to see this latter record being broken. Careers are shorter than they used to be, and in Hobbs’ day there was a big gap in the abilities of the county teams. Hobbs could plunder runs almost at will from the weaker sides and notched up a career world record of 197 centuries.
Hobbs’ opening partner for England during much of the interwar period was the Yorkshire man Herbert Sutcliffe. In a career lasting from 1919 to 1945, he registered the best Test average of all England players (60.75) and scored a grand total of 50,607 runs in all first class cricket at a slightly better average than Hobbs.
Other contenders for greatest batsman
Another contender, switching back to Surrey, is Ken Barrington, a middle order batsman who played from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s. His average was 58.67 and he rescued England from many a dire situation. A consummate professional at a time when the ethos of the gentleman amateur still held sway with the powers that be, Barrington was unlucky never to be made England captain.
Another Yorkshireman in contention is Len Hutton. Only sixth on the all-time list of England averages at 56.67 and scorer of ‘only’ 40,140 career runs, as a 21-year-old he set a new individual world record, with 364 against Australia at the Oval in 1938.
His best years were cut off by the war. Not only that, but he received a war injury to his arm, forcing him to alter his batting style. When Test cricket resumed, he had to face the demon combination of Lindwall and Miller, part of the great Australian team of the late 1940s, the strongest side in history until that date.
A case can still be made for Root. For example, fielding standards are now higher than in the past, making runs harder to score.
Statistics themselves need to be delved into and understood. That said, even though it pains me as a Lancastrian to say so, my own vote for the best ever English batsman goes to three Yorkshiremen. Hutton, Root and Sutcliffe, take your pick.
Paul Ormerod is an honorary professor at the Alliance Business School at the University of Manchester and an economist at Volterra Partners LLP