Sturdy Root is pulling up trees: Young gem grows into role as England's rock

Joe Root looks so young for his age that you could imagine him struggling to get served in one of this picturesque party town’s many lively bars, but he has an old enough head on his shoulders to take his meteoric rise in his stride.
The question of whether Root, 22, would be able to stand his round is unlikely to crop up anyway because this young Yorkshireman, who has taken to international cricket like a duck to water, is far too sensible to be seen in the Altitude Bar here in Queenstown, where certain members of the England World Cup rugby team got into so much trouble.
While the more adventurous members of the England team and management have had a go at canyon swinging in this extreme sport capital — Andy Flower stressed that it posed no danger to the players — Root was to be found enjoying the more prosaic delights of the golf course on his day off.

 

No ordinary Joe: Root has been a revelation for England since breaking into the side in India

 

King of the swingers: Stuart Broad takes his turn at canyon swinging as (right to left) Jonny Bairstow, Steven Finn and Matt Prior await their turns

Yet this is no ordinary Joe. For Root has made such an impression in all forms of the game since being thrown into the deep end of his Test debut in Nagpur before Christmas that an illustrious career already seems assured.
Root sat at England’s hotel on Monday overlooking the stunning Lake Wakatipu and discussed in his very matter-of-fact manner how he has gone from outstanding prospect to established England player in just a couple of months.
‘I’ve loved every minute of it so far,’ said Root. ‘Just being a part of all this and representing my country is all I wanted to do growing up. To actually have that opportunity is fantastic. All I’m doing is just trying to do the things I’ve always done. I’ve not tried to change too much. I just try to play the situation I find myself in. It has seemed to have come off so far.’
He can say that again. First we had an extraordinary display of calm, patient authority when Root scored 73 in a vigil lasting 229 balls on his Test debut in India to play his part in securing an historic series win.

 

Old head: Root shows a remarkable maturity given his years

And since then he has shown his inventive side in becoming the first man in limited-overs history to score more than 25 in each of his first seven one-day internationals. For good measure he has hit the winnings runs in the last two.
So which is the real Joe Root, the old-fashioned Mike Atherton bat-alike with the perfect temperament for Test cricket or the innovator that we saw ramp and reverse sweep his way to a leading role in England’s one-day series victory?
‘To be honest it all becomes part of your game so you just try to play the right shot for the right situation,’ said Root.
‘I’ve always wanted to play Test cricket from a young age and that’s what you dream about. But you have to make sure you can contribute regardless of the format.
‘I’m not the world’s strongest bloke. I don’t clear the ropes by 30 yards so I have to find other ways of scoring and I keep developing that side of my game. It’s something I’ll keep working on.’ 

 

Pulling up trees: Root is likely to start the first Test in Dunedin next week

He may look like Atherton at the crease but it is another former England captain in Michael Vaughan who has been a more significant figure in Root’s emergence.
The pair both played for Sheffield Collegiate and the young Vaughan appeared in the same first XI as Root’s dad Matt. Joe and his brother Billy would play on the sidelines ‘getting into trouble for hitting our ball on to the pitch’. Now Vaughan has already tipped Root to follow in his footsteps and become England captain himself, quite a judgment call on a young batsman yet to have to deal with anything resembling adversity in England’s colours.
Not surprisingly Root baulks at getting carried away just yet. ‘It’s very nice to hear but I’ve only played a handful of games so it would be wrong for me to start thinking of anything like that,’ he said. ‘I’ve just got to make sure I get in a good frame of mind for this series and try to take an opportunity if I get one.
‘Michael had a fantastic career and was a very good role model for me to look up to. Playing at the same club and seeing someone do it who played for the same side as my dad made it more believable that I could do it as well.’

 

Versatile: Root has shown an ability to vary his innings' depending on context

Root will certainly get his opportunity in the Test series that begins next week in Dunedin and the only question is whether it is at No 6, where he made his debut, or as an opener with a view to the Ashes. Vaughan subscribes to the latter theory.
It would be harsh on Nick Compton were he to be jettisoned after a decent tour of India but England have shown themselves happy to make ruthless calls and there is a school of thought that Root at the top of the order is the better bet for when the Aussies come calling for the serious business of this summer.
England will show their hand tomorrow when they play a New Zealand XI in a four-day warm-up game here ahead of the three-Test series but Root insists that he will just be happy to be in the side.
‘I just want to represent England whether it is in the middle, at the top or wherever,’ said Root. ‘If it means opener then great but I’m not too fussed about it. I just want to be in the side. From the age of six I used to watch every England team and when I was messing around in the backyard I would pretend to be whoever was scoring runs at the time, whether they were a right or left-hander. I just wanted to be them and do that.
‘I played my first game of adult cricket at about eight or nine when the fifth team were short and picked me to field and bat at No 11. From then I just got the bug and wanted to play as often as possible.

 

The sky is the limit: Root is expected to have a long and prosperous international career

‘But, the thing was, I was so little growing up that I was way behind everyone else. It took me 50 overs to get 50. A lot of the time I was not out but I just couldn’t get it off the square. They’d set a ring field and I wasn’t able to get it past them. Then, when I first joined Yorkshire, I shot up about six inches in a year and found my whole technique was wrong. I kept on falling over and getting out lbw or being bowled. I had to change my whole technique completely.’
It has not let him down since. Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, said that Root was almost ‘Australian-like’ in his assertiveness and confidence at the crease during the one-day series. The youngster takes that as a compliment.
‘I’m not a very intimidating bloke to look at so I’ve got to try and find a way to make sure they know I mean business,’ said Root. ‘I’m quite quiet as well so I have to make sure they can hear me down at the other end.’
Root is making a big enough noise without having to shout about it. English cricket will be raising its glass to him for some considerable time.

 

Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. Visit investec.co.uk/cricket