William Thomas Root (born 5 August 1992) is an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who plays for

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. Primarily a left-handed batsman, he also bowls right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

. He is the brother of former England Test

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England Test and One Day International (ODI) teams, and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire in English domestic ...

Early life

Root is the youngest son of Helen and Matt Root and grew up in Dore,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He is the younger brother of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Test captain

. He attended

King Ecgbert School King Ecgbert School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational secondary school with Academy (English school), academy status (age range 11–18) in the village of Dore, South Yorkshire, Dore in the south-west of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, E ...

in Sheffield and Worksop College as a weekly boarder. Root and his brother played under11's cricket for Rotherham Town CC, and then like their father joined Sheffield Collegiate CC in

Abbeydale Park Abbeydale Park is a sports venue in Dore, South Yorkshire, England. It is unusual in having hosted home games for two different county cricket teams. History The Park first opened for cricket in 1921, with the first pavilion being completed th ...

, Sheffield. Former Yorkshire batsman and England captain Michael Vaughan also learnt his trade at Collegiate and was a source of inspiration for both Root brothers. Both brothers support

Sheffield United F.C. Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Cricket career

Root made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in the

2017 Royal London One-Day Cup The 2017 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that forms part of the 2017 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side and had List A cricket status. All eig ...

on 27 April 2017. He once appeared as a substitute fielder for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

. Opportunities at Nottinghamshire were limited for Root, however he did top the club averages in T20 cricket in the 2017 season, as well as making a crucial century in the final Championship game of the season at Hove, coming in at 55–4 to help force a vital draw.

Glamorgan

At the end of the 2018 season Root left Nottinghamshire to join

on a two-year contract. Root made his

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

debut for Glamorgan against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in April 2019, scoring 126 in the first innings. In May 2019, Root was suspended from bowling by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) due to a suspect action. On August 23, 2019, Root was cleared to bowl again. In June 2019, Root scored his maiden first-class double hundred in a championship game against

Northants Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is kn ...

, posting 229 in the first innings. Root ended his first season at Glamorgan with 768 runs in the County Championship and 386 runs at an average of 64.33 in the

Royal London One Day Cup The Royal London One-Day Cup is a fifty-over limited overs cricket competition for the England and Wales county cricket, first-class counties. It began in 2014 English cricket season, 2014 as a replacement for the ECB 40 tournament, which ran fr ...

, making him the club's highest scorer in the competition. During the shortened 2020 season, Root completed a 5th first-class century, making 118 against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

. The 2021 season began with Root facing older brother Joe in a first-class game for the first time ever as Glamorgan opened their season away to

. Fittingly, in the second innings, Root pushed a ball from his brother into the leg side for two to reach his 6th first-class hundred.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Billy 1992 births Living people English cricketers Cricketers from Sheffield Nottinghamshire cricketers Leeds/Bradford MCCU cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Suffolk cricketers English cricketers of the 21st century