The Ashes: Alastair Cook heaps praise on 'great' Joe Root
The Ashes: Alastair Cook heaps praise on 'great' Joe Root
Joe Root, the former England captain and one of the world's leading batsmen, scored his first-ever Test century on Australian soil.
The landmark innings came in his 30th outing Down Under, nearly 4,395 days after his debut in Australia.
The 34-year-old reached the milestone on Day 1 of the 2nd Ashes Test in Brisbane on Thursday.
Notably, former England skipper Alastair Cook feels Australia will now need to consider Root as a great.
His comments came after Darren Lehmann had criticized Root back in 2024.
'Even Australia will have to admit he's a great now'
"Even Australia will have to admit he's a great now," said Root's former team-mate Cook on TNT Sports.
Cook also said Root is England's greatest batter ever as he gets better and better.
"It is a brilliant innings and just what England needed. He's been superb under pressure as always. He is England's best batsman ever. He just gets better and better," Cook added.
When Lehmann felt Root 'a rung below'
In November 2024, former Australia coach Darren Lehmann said Root needed to score a century in Australia to be considered an "all-time great".
"Nope, he is a rung below for that reason," said Lehmann on ABC Sport, when asked if Root was in the same category with Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.
"They've made runs all over the world in difficult conditions against different oppositions, and that's the only thing stopping Joe Root. I think he's a great player, but is he an all-time great?"
Vaughan also praises Root
Another former England captain Michael Vaughan praised Root for his maiden Test century on Australian soil.
"He'd [Joe Root] have arrived thinking I haven't got a hundred here and he would have known for England to get back into the series he needs runs," former England captain Michael Vaughan told BBC Sport's Daily Ashes Debrief.
"To deliver here under that amount of pressure was remarkable."
Root shines for the visitors on Day 1
Root came to the middle after England were in trouble with twin dismissals (5/2).
While a fiery Mitchell Starc made England pay with the pink ball, Root firmly stood his ground. His 117-run stand with Zak Crawley rescued England in time.
After Crawley's departure, Root added 54 runs alongside Harry Brook (31).
He finished the day with an unbeaten 61-run stand alongside Jofra Archer.
Root remained unbeaten on 135 with the help of 18 fours and a six.
The dual Ashes feats attained by Root
Root went on to surpass 2,500 Ashes runs during his unbeaten 135 on Day 1.
He has raced to 2,571 runs from 36 Ashes Tests (68 innings) at 41.46. He has 5 tons and 18 fifties.
Meanwhile, Root also got past 1,000 Ashes runs on Australian soil.
Playing his 16th Ashes Test in Australia, Root owns 1,035 runs at 38.33 (100s: 1, 50s: 9).
4th batter with 40-plus Test tons
Overall, Root completed his 40th century in Test cricket. He became only the fourth player to touch the 40-century mark in the format, joining Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45), and Ricky Ponting (41). Root also has 66 half-centuries to his name in the format.