Who is England's best Test batter post 2000?

[Unbiased-Fan]

Three great candidates to choose from, Joe Root, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen.
Root and Cook are statistically better than Pietersen, but Pietersen's match winning abilities are unmatchable. Root tremendous rise in past 4 years made him absolute ATG of the game. Alastair Cook's contributions towards series victories in India and Australia are fantastic.
Who is best test batsman among three?

 

[Mamoon]

Joe Root is obviously better than Pietersen. He plays seam and swing better than Pietersen, much better against spin as well.

Pietersen was more explosive and dominating but he was also more inconsistent.

Difficult to compare Cook to these guys because he was an opener and a great one. He is extremely under appreciated.

He was the one constant for England after Strauss retired and he kept producing those big knocks every series.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Easily Cook. He was a once in a generation batsman and continues to be a fantastic cricketer.

 

[gazza619]

Cook!!! But Root is not far behind.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Root and it's not even particularly close. Much more complete batsman, and has dominated attacks across the globe consistently for his entire career. Cook had way more support than Root ever did. Root was the only world class English batsman for half his career.

 

[Ab Fan]

Root> KP > Cook

Cook was an accumulator, not very dominant vs quality pace but still a superior batsman to Kohli, who is behind each of the three English batters in tests.

 

[Mesozoic]

How on earth are people picking anyone other than Root on this thread? It's not even close.

 

[James]

I’d give this accolade to Root, although he needs a big series in Australia or at the very least one big innings in Australia to reach historic ATG level. Currently he is an England ATG.

That’s one thing Root lacks which Cook and Pietersen both registered — think they have 7 daddy hundreds in Aus between them — 4 of which came in the series when England won the Ashes away in Aus.

 

[shaz619]

Kevin Pietersen, pretty easy that one

 

[jeetu]

England players debut after 2000
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]Avg [/td][td]SR [/td][td]100 [/td][td]50 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JE Root [/td][td]2012-2023 [/td][td]131 [/td][td]11168 [/td][td]50.76 [/td][td]56.49 [/td][td]30 [/td][td]58 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KP Pietersen [/td][td]2005-2014 [/td][td]104 [/td][td]8181 [/td][td]47.28 [/td][td]61.72 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]35 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AN Cook [/td][td]2006-2018 [/td][td]161 [/td][td]12472 [/td][td]45.35 [/td][td]46.95 [/td][td]33 [/td][td]57 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]IJL Trott [/td][td]2009-2015 [/td][td]52 [/td][td]3835 [/td][td]44.08 [/td][td]47.18 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]19 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]IR Bell [/td][td]2004-2015 [/td][td]118 [/td][td]7727 [/td][td]42.69 [/td][td]49.46 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]46 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AJ Strauss [/td][td]2004-2012 [/td][td]100 [/td][td]7037 [/td][td]40.91 [/td][td]48.91 [/td][td]21 [/td][td]27 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PD Collingwood [/td][td]2003-2011 [/td][td]68 [/td][td]4259 [/td][td]40.56 [/td][td]46.44 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]20 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MJ Prior [/td][td]2007-2014 [/td][td]79 [/td][td]4099 [/td][td]40.18 [/td][td]61.66 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]GS Ballance [/td][td]2014-2017 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]1498 [/td][td]37.45 [/td][td]47.16 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]7 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JM Bairstow [/td][td]2012-2023 [/td][td]91 [/td][td]5580 [/td][td]37.2 [/td][td]57.9 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]24 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BA Stokes [/td][td]2013-2023 [/td][td]93 [/td][td]5756 [/td][td]35.75 [/td][td]58.83 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]OJ Pope [/td][td]2018-2023 [/td][td]37 [/td][td]2091 [/td][td]34.85 [/td][td]61.51 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]11 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JC Buttler [/td][td]2014-2022 [/td][td]57 [/td][td]2907 [/td][td]31.94 [/td][td]54.18 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]18 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RJ Burns [/td][td]2018-2022 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]1789 [/td][td]30.32 [/td][td]43.8 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]11 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[James]

Collingwood most under-rated of those^

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Cook was a wonderful player and also handled the burden of captaincy for a very long time.

Averaging 45 as an opener that played mostly in England is fantastic.

However, he was one dimensional.

Joe Root has many more strings to his bow. He could go down as a tier 1 atg if he continues at this rate, and perhaps will be the first England batsman who averages over 50 over a large sample size.

His conversion rate in recent times has been frightening.

 

[Mamoon]

Cook was a wonderful player and also handled the burden of captaincy for a very long time.

Averaging 45 as an opener that played mostly in England is fantastic.

However, he was one dimensional.

Joe Root has many more strings to his bow. He could go down as a tier 1 atg if he continues at this rate, and perhaps will be the first England batsman who averages over 50 over a large sample size.

His conversion rate in recent times has been frightening.

Between 2017 and 2020, Joe Root would almost always fall short of three figures after scoring a half-century. It is incredible that in spite of such a prolonged slump, he is already on 30 hundreds.

He would probably be close to 40 tons already with a slightly better conversion rate during those years.

In terms of pure consistency, he is probably the best since perhaps Don. He almost never goes cheaply regardless of the conditions and match situation. A single digit score from Root is almost unthinkable.

The only chink in his armory is the fact that he has never played a big innings in Australia, but I’m sure he is too good a player not to at some point. There is no doubt at all that he is one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

His technique, temperament and ability to adjust to different conditions would have made him a run machine in any era.

 

[Ab Fan]

England players debut after 2000
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]Avg [/td][td]SR [/td][td]100 [/td][td]50 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JE Root [/td][td]2012-2023 [/td][td]131 [/td][td]11168 [/td][td]50.76 [/td][td]56.49 [/td][td]30 [/td][td]58 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KP Pietersen [/td][td]2005-2014 [/td][td]104 [/td][td]8181 [/td][td]47.28 [/td][td]61.72 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]35 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AN Cook [/td][td]2006-2018 [/td][td]161 [/td][td]12472 [/td][td]45.35 [/td][td]46.95 [/td][td]33 [/td][td]57 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]IJL Trott [/td][td]2009-2015 [/td][td]52 [/td][td]3835 [/td][td]44.08 [/td][td]47.18 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]19 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]IR Bell [/td][td]2004-2015 [/td][td]118 [/td][td]7727 [/td][td]42.69 [/td][td]49.46 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]46 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AJ Strauss [/td][td]2004-2012 [/td][td]100 [/td][td]7037 [/td][td]40.91 [/td][td]48.91 [/td][td]21 [/td][td]27 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PD Collingwood [/td][td]2003-2011 [/td][td]68 [/td][td]4259 [/td][td]40.56 [/td][td]46.44 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]20 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MJ Prior [/td][td]2007-2014 [/td][td]79 [/td][td]4099 [/td][td]40.18 [/td][td]61.66 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]GS Ballance [/td][td]2014-2017 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]1498 [/td][td]37.45 [/td][td]47.16 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]7 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JM Bairstow [/td][td]2012-2023 [/td][td]91 [/td][td]5580 [/td][td]37.2 [/td][td]57.9 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]24 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BA Stokes [/td][td]2013-2023 [/td][td]93 [/td][td]5756 [/td][td]35.75 [/td][td]58.83 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]OJ Pope [/td][td]2018-2023 [/td][td]37 [/td][td]2091 [/td][td]34.85 [/td][td]61.51 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]11 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JC Buttler [/td][td]2014-2022 [/td][td]57 [/td][td]2907 [/td][td]31.94 [/td][td]54.18 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]18 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RJ Burns [/td][td]2018-2022 [/td][td]32 [/td][td]1789 [/td][td]30.32 [/td][td]43.8 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]11 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

Look at the stats of Root and his other teammates he has played with. The difference is pretty large. Garry Ballance is the next best averaging batter for England from Root's era.

 

[gibsyhesperis]

The answer is so self evident that there is little debate — Joe Root.
He is probably the only English batsman post 2000 who would get into an all-time England XI.
Wonderful batsman, fantastic person.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Opening is the most difficult position for a batter in Test cricket and Cook was exceptional at that.

KP was the guy who could win England any game anywhere but had consistency issues.

Root is very much a complete batter with unreal consistency but still needs to do something (like having a big winning tour in Australia and India) like Cook to go no.1.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Root is in the conversation of being the GOAT English batsman in test history. A lot of experts already think he's the best. The other two aren't in contention. That should be enough answer.

 

[Ab Fan]

England's greatest batsman of all-time is Joe Root in my opinion. He averages+15 higher than his contemporaries.

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

Joe Root

 

[ElRaja]

not right to compare openers to middle order batsmen. cook had the pressure of opening and averaged 45 over 12,000 runs, if he wanted he could have gone on to break all sorts of aggregate records. root is an amazing batsmen, but flopped when he was given the responsibility of batting at three and doesnt have a great record in aus, which is a very big thing for an england batsmen, IMO.

so technically cook is the better batsmen, but root has more flair. however pieterson was arguably a more dangerous but also more volatile version of the root type batsman, whereas i dont think cook has any peers, going back a long long time for england.

 

[Ab Fan]

not right to compare openers to middle order batsmen. cook had the pressure of opening and averaged 45 over 12,000 runs, if he wanted he could have gone on to break all sorts of aggregate records. root is an amazing batsmen, but flopped when he was given the responsibility of batting at three and doesnt have a great record in aus, which is a very big thing for an england batsmen, IMO.

so technically cook is the better batsmen, but root has more flair. however pieterson was arguably a more dangerous but also more volatile version of the root type batsman, whereas i dont think cook has any peers, going back a long long time for england.

Cook has weakness vs high pace bowling and played in an era where wickets were more flatter. Opening is a tougher job but can't give the leeway of +5 average there. If he averaged 47-48, he would have a case but still the average is 45.

During Root's era, the second best batsman ( take any position) averages a meagre 35 which means we are talking about the difference of +15 average, that's pretty big itself.

 

[Ab Fan]

My all time England XI would be :-

Hobbs
Hutton
Hammond
Root
KP/May/Compton
Botham
Knott(wkt)
Barnes
Laker
Trueman
Anderson

Only #5 is debatable, KP is not a clear winner there. Additionally, Root only has decent number of test wickets so he is a must in the XI.

 

[James]

Root and Cook are probably both ahead of him in terms of an overall career view, but KP 2005-2009 was probably the best of the lot. He scored 16 pretty amazing tons and averaged 50+ through almost all of that period. But his peak as an international batsman was relatively quite short. After he was stripped of the England captaincy he lost some of his edge and went into a slow and long decline. Although he still picked up player of the tournament in the 2010 World T20 and contributed the occasional Test hundred.

 

[kron]

If the answer isn't kp who is south african* btw then you should refrain from posting tbh.

Kp is their best batsman of all time.

Nobody cares about amateur era of Hammond Hobbs button mutton.

They played in a crappy era with barely any good sides.

But yea answer is KP. Then root.

 

[Ab Fan]

If the answer isn't kp who is south african* btw then you should refrain from posting tbh.

Kp is their best batsman of all time.

Nobody cares about amateur era of Hammond Hobbs button mutton.

They played in a crappy era with barely any good sides.

But yea answer is KP. Then root.

8k runs at 47 avg v/s 12k runs at 50 avg??

 

[kron]

8k runs at 47 avg v/s 12k runs at 50 avg??

Need to watch the game. Pietersen was a better match winner vs tougher teams away from home.

He is the reason england won in India in 2012 albeit vs one of the weakest indian sides.

 

[kron]

And root us crap in Australia. He always traps his pants in aus. I don't rate him.

 

[Ab Fan]

Need to watch the game. Pietersen was a better match winner vs tougher teams away from home.

He is the reason england won in India in 2012 albeit vs one of the weakest indian sides.

They won because they had Swann and Payesar. Now they have Leech and Bashir.

 

[harshjoshi87]

Kevin Pietersen. He changed the way England played the game.

Pietersen came & changed England's approach.

 

[kron]

They won because they had Swann and Payesar. Now they have Leech and Bashir.

Without pietersen they would have never won that series. He put runs on board.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Ian Bell
Alastir Cook
Joe Root

 

[Buffet]

KP in his peak was better than Root and Cook. KP lacked in his consistency but played many great knocks. Very few players have such knocks.

Over all, Root is more consistent.

 

[James]

Without pietersen they would have never won that series. He put runs on board.

He played one legendary innings, but the highest run scorer was Cook. It was the same again when England beat Aus in Aus.

 

[Mahee]

Joe Root

 

[Ab Fan]

My order would be :-

Root > Cook> KP.

Longevity matters, KP doesn't have that. He wasn't the force in Tests anymore post 2009 except for that one knock in Bombay.

 

[Ab Fan]

And root us crap in Australia. He always traps his pants in aus. I don't rate him.

Root has 9 fifties in Australia. He is not that bad there.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Root is arguably the greatest English batsman post 1960s.


Pietersen is number 2

Boycott number 3

Gooch is number 4

Cook at 5

 

[AMSS]

When it comes to being an ATG/GOAT, longevity PLUS consistency matters more than a peak here and there. Hence Root.

 

[kron]

He played one legendary innings, but the highest run scorer was Cook. It was the same again when England beat Aus in Aus.

Yea but without him they aren't winning either series.

 

[kron]

Root has 9 fifties in Australia. He is not that bad there.

All mostly on flat beds. When there is bit of juice he folds. Never played a match winning knock. Or series defining knock there. In aus

 

[shortbread]

In terms to sheer skill/talent, KP by far.

Results and application Root. Cook deserves a mention as opening in English conditions are never easy (his days wickets weren't as flat as they're now)

Overall I think Joe is the best of this century (so far).

 

[Ab Fan]

All mostly on flat beds. When there is bit of juice he folds. Never played a match winning knock. Or series defining knock there. In aus

If he had played there, he would have been a top 5 batsman contender of all-time.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Will go

Root, KP, Cook in that order.

KP had the highest ceiling of the 3 though.

 

[James]

Yea but without him they aren't winning either series.

Agreed on the India one. No KP in the team flips that series from 2-1 to England into 2-1 to India.

Not sure about the Aus one. Cook and Trott in that series were completely dominant, scored 1200 runs (including 5 huge tons) between them. KP played one great innings, but it was just once, and Eng won the series 3-1.