Joe Root’s Year in Review: A Photographic Overview of the Sports Personality Contender

Joe Root, an England cricketer, is among the six individuals nominated for the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. BBC Sport offers a review of his year through five photographs. In August, on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, Root’s flawless score of 143 brought him level with Sir Alastair Cook for the most Test centuries (33) for England. Root only needed two more days to claim this record outright, solidifying his reputation as England’s greatest batter with a record-breaking 34th Test century on the third day at Lord’s. His innings of 103 from 111 deliveries also marked his quickest century in Test cricket. Another of Cook’s records was surpassed by Root in October, when the Yorkshireman became England’s all-time leading Test runscorer. He exceeded Cook’s total of 12,472 runs upon reaching 71 on day three of the first Test against Pakistan in Multan. A day later, Root and Harry Brook established a new England partnership record of 454 runs, surpassing the previous best of 411 set by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May 57 years ago. This also represented the highest fourth-wicket partnership for any team and the best in Test history by a pair playing away from home. Root earned his 150th Test cap in the series opener against New Zealand in Christchurch. During this match, he also set a new record for runs scored in the fourth innings of Test matches (1,630), achieving this in 11 fewer innings than Sachin Tendulkar’s previous best.