How Joe Root and Sir Alastair Cook compare as England Test run record broken

Root passed fellow former captain Cook’s mark of 12,472 runs on the third morning of the first Test in Multan.

Joe Root, left, has overtaken Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading Test century-maker (Mike Egerton/Adam Davy/PA)

Joe Root broke England’s Test runs record with a brilliant unbeaten 176 in the first Test against Pakistan, passing fellow former captain Sir Alastair Cook.

Here, the PA news agency compares the two and takes a closer look at Root’s numbers.

Root vs Cook

Root’s innings took him to 12,578 runs in 147 Tests, over 100 clear of Cook’s previous record of 12,472.

The Yorkshireman averages 51.34 for his 268 innings. Should he be dismissed on day four in Multan, that mark would come down slightly but remain over 50.

His 35 centuries are also an England record, backed by 64 half-centuries for a total of 99 scores over 50. His top score of 254 came against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2016, one of five double tons with a sixth potentially in the offing on Thursday.

Cook played 161 Tests and batted 291 times, averaging 45.35. He scored 33 centuries and 57 fifties, with a best of 294 against India in 2011.

Root ranks first and Cook second for England in runs, centuries and scores of 50-plus, with Root second to Cook in innings. They are England’s third and fourth most-capped players behind long-time seam partnership James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Root’s record

Root has passed Cook for fifth place on the all-time list of Test run-scorers, having climbed from the final spot in a congested top 10 during July’s series against the West Indies.

He passed Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene in the first innings at Trent Bridge, then West Indians Shivnarine Chanderpaul with his second-innings century and Brian Lara when he made 87 at Edgbaston.

He ticked off Jayawardene’s long-time team-mate Kumar Sangakkara in the third Test against Sri Lanka, then Cook in Multan with an on-drive shortly before lunch.

The next three names on the list are between 700 and 800 runs ahead of Root, with India’s Rahul Dravid and South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis making 13,288 and 13,289 respectively and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting 13,378.

That raised the prospect of Root moving second as soon as next year, which would leave only India’s Sachin Tendulkar ahead of him with 15,921.

Root has more runs against India than any other opposition, 2,846 in 30 Tests. Next are Australia, against whom he has 2,428 in 34 games, while his best average is against Sri Lanka at 62.54.

Root’s influence can be seen when filtering his batting average by match result. He averages over 25 runs more in England wins than defeats – 63.18 to 34.90, with the result of the ongoing Test to be determined. His strike rate is also over 14 runs higher in wins than losses.

He scored 1,708 runs in 2021, the highest annual total of his career and one of five times he has passed 1,000, while his best average for a single year was 97.13 across 11 innings in 2014 – passing 50 in six of those and 100 on three occasions.

He averaged 52.80 prior to taking the captaincy in July 2017, dipped to 46.45 as skipper and has more than recovered his prior level since standing down in March 2022 – his average in that phase currently stands at 61.11, prior to a potential dismissal in his ongoing innings.

The influence of England’s new style under Ben Stokes, Root’s successor as captain, and coach Brendon McCullum is also apparent. Root’s strike rate was 54.65 before standing down and has increased to 67.11 since, while he hit only 15 sixes in five years prior to taking the captaincy, 10 in five years as skipper and then 19 since – with 15 in 2023 alone.

Having occasionally been asked to move up and down the batting order during his career, Root has settled at number four where he has played 153 of his 268 Test innings, averaging 52.74. His only better average by position is at number five, with a hugely impressive 67.26 in 35 innings.

He has over 1,000 runs at Lord’s, and his best average with a minimum of four innings at one venue is 77.33 at Galle.