Joe Root

Joe Root has already drawn comparisons with two of Yorkshire's finest batsmen.

He is a product of Sheffield Collegiate, the same nursery that produced Michael Vaughan, while his patience and stubbornness at the crease had Geoffrey Boycott gushing that he reminded him of himself.

Joe made his mark with the England Under-19 squad in Bangladesh, shortly before the youth World Cup in New Zealand in 2010. He signed a three-year contract with Yorkshire that year. The 2011 season proved to be a breakthrough season for Root as he made 1,013 runs at 36.17, before making an unbeaten century in Sri Lanka on his second England Lions tour that winter.

He enhanced his burgeoning reputation with an unbeaten 222 against Hampshire at West End in 2012, one of several fine performances he produced en route to being named the Cricket Writer's Club Young Player of the Year. His form earned him a call up to the England senior squad for their tour of India. He did not disappoint, marking his Test debut in Nagpur with 73 runs from 229 balls - England’s sixth-longest debut innings.

Joe has become an increasingly prominent member of the England squad in all three formats of the game and in February 2013 was rewarded with an incremental contract for 2012/13.

He celebrated the award in fine style two days later, hitting an unbeaten 79 as England levelled the series against the Kiwis. In doing so, he became the first England player to start his ODI career with six scores of 30 or more.

Joe made a marvellous start to the 2013 domestic season with Yorkshire and the England Lions, making 646 runs in his first four innings'. He continued his rapid international progress with a superb 71 as England defeated New Zealand by 140 runs in the first Test at Lord's.

In the second Test, Joe hit a marvellous 104 to become the first Yorkshireman to score his maiden Test century at Headingley. He was subsequently named as player of the series as the home side clinched a 246-run second Test victory to win the series 2-0.

Joe was promoted to opening batsman and played a prominent role as England secured their third successive Ashes victory in 2013. The highlight of his series came in the second Test, when he was named man of the match after scoring a sensational 180 at Lord’s, becoming the youngest ever Englishman to do so at the home of cricket.

He batted at number four in the third ODI against the West Indies and he made his maiden ODI century hitting 107 runs off 122 balls and also taking one wicket in England's 25-run win.

Joe finished the series as a 2-1 winner and ended up with 167 runs (the highest run scorer of both teams) and four wickets. For this performance he received the Man of the Match for the 3rd ODI and also received the Player of the Series award. 

After returning from injury he quickly scored two more Test centuries, one at Lord's against Sri Lanka where he finished with a career-best 200*.

Joe scored an unbeaten 154 against India at Trent Bridge that helped England recover from 298-9 to post 496 as he and James Anderson shared a world record 10th wicket stand of 198 before scoring 149 not out in the fifth Test as his team secured a 3-1 series victory.

There was yet another ton in the second Test against West Indies in April 2015, with an unbeaten 182 from 229 balls as England secured a nine-wicket win.

The following month, Joe was named England Men’s Player of the Year and celebrated with scores of 98 and 84 in England’s first Test victory over New Zealand.

The high scoring continued and Joe hit 108 from 77 balls as England made 409-9 in the first ODI victory against the Black Caps, before 106 from 97 balls in the fourth match. Joe also had the highest score of the one-off T20 game, scoring 68 runs. 

Joe's performances in The Ashes led to him reaching the top of the ICC World batting rankings.

He made 134 and 60 in the victory in the first Test in Cardiff before scoring 60 and hitting the winning runs in an unbeaten 38 at Edgbaston.

Joe went on to make 130 as England moved into a 3-1 lead with a memorable win at Trent Bridge.