Joe Root

Joe Root married Carrie Cotterell on 1 December 2018. They have two children, born in 2017 and 2020.

Root's younger brother, Billy Root, is a cricketer who has played for Glamorgan. Joe Root grew up in Dore, Sheffield, and attended Dore Primary School, King Ecgbert School and Worksop College.

Root began his senior cricket career with Yorkshire, making his second-team debut in 2007 before appearing for the county's first team in 2009. He made his County Championship debut in 2011 and scored an unbeaten 222 against Hampshire in the following season. Root also captained Yorkshire during its 2014 County Championship title-winning campaign and helped the side retain the title in 2015.

He represented England Under-19 and England Lions before making his Test debut against India in Nagpur in December 2012. His composed 73 helped England secure a draw and win a Test series in India for the first time since 1984-85. He made his ODI debut against India in January 2013 and soon became a regular across England's international teams.

Root scored his first Test century against New Zealand at Headingley in 2013, making 104. Later that year, he established himself in the Ashes with an innings of 180 against Australia. He also developed a useful right-arm off-break bowling option and has taken international wickets alongside his work as a batter.

Root succeeded Alastair Cook as England's Test captain in February 2017. In his first match as captain, he scored 190 against South Africa at Lord's, becoming the sixth England player to make a Test century on his captaincy debut. England won that series 3-1.

His captaincy included a home series victory over India in 2018 and England's first Test series win in Sri Lanka since 2001. He also led England to a 3-1 series victory in South Africa in 2019-20, a result he called his proudest achievement as captain. His tenure included defeats in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 Ashes series, and he resigned from the role in April 2022 after 64 Tests as captain.

Root's batting remained central to England during his captaincy. He scored 228 and 186 in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka in 2021, then made three centuries in the first three Tests of England's home series against India later that year. He returned to the England Test captaincy in 2026.

Root was part of England's 2019 Cricket World Cup-winning team. He scored 556 runs in 11 innings, finishing as England's leading run-scorer and the tournament's fifth-highest scorer, and was selected in the ICC's Team of the Tournament.

He has been a prolific batter in both Test and ODI cricket. In 2022, he became only the second Englishman to score 10,000 Test runs. In October 2024, he overtook Alastair Cook to become England's leading Test run-scorer, scoring 262 against Pakistan in an innings that included a record 454-run fourth-wicket partnership with Harry Brook.

Root's honours include the Wisden Cricketer of the Year award in 2014, the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year award in 2021 and the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World award in 2021. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to cricket. In domestic and franchise cricket, he has represented Yorkshire, Sydney Thunder, Trent Rockets, Dubai Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Paarl Royals and Welsh Fire.