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 21^st 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.