Joseph Edward "Joe" Root (born 30 December 1990) is an English cricketer, who plays for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England. He was originally a right-handed opening batsman and occasional off-spinner, with a similar playing style to former England captain Michael Vaughan. However, he has played the majority of his cricket for England in the middle order.

He made his debut for England in the 2012 Test series in India and made his ODI and Twenty20 International debuts on the same tour, before scoring his maiden Test century at his home ground of Headingley the following Spring against New Zealand. He is currently the No. 2 ranked batsman in Test cricket on the ICC Player Rankings and No. 10 on the ICC ODI Rankings.

Early life, family and youth career

Root is the elder son of Helen and Matt. His brother Billy is an MCC Young Cricketer.

He attended King Ecgbert School, Sheffield and at 15 on a cricket sports scholarship, Worksop College in Worksop as a weekly boarder.

Root followed in his father's footsteps by joining Sheffield Collegiate C.C. Former Yorkshire batsman and England captain, Michael Vaughan also learnt his trade at Collegiate and was a source of inspiration for Root who became a protégé of his. According to Alastair Cook, he also became the 60th player who had played at Bunbury Festival that went on to play for England by 2013 as of June 2014.

Joseph "Joe" Root (1860 – November 1912) was a well-known hermit who lived in what is now Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Root lived on Presque Isle without any modern conveniences.

Life

Presque Isle State Park

Root moved away from his childhood home to Presque Isle while still in his adolescent years. As one of the first permanent inhabitants to the peninsula (Presque Isle wasn't declared an official state park until 1921), he built a number of shacks in various parts of the peninsula to suit the particular activity of any given day. There was also a lighthouse keeper who resided at the park during the late 19th century and he often had his tomatoes swiped by Root.

Root would have built his shacks out of driftwood, packing crates and anything else that washed up on shore. Root hunted and fished to support himself in the harsh environment - he would become fond of raw fish in particular. Reportedly a dead cow once washed up on the shore of Presque Isle and Root fed off of it for an entire week (without using any implements to either cook or eat the animal). Root also ate local wild plants such as wild cattails, duck potatoes, spatterdocks, rice, blueberries, dewberries, and wild strawberries.