Joseph Edward Root was born on December 30, 1990, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. He grew up in the nearby suburb of Dore with his parents Steve and Helen Root and his younger brother, Billy Root, who also went on to play professional cricket for Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan. Their father played local club cricket, and both boys were introduced to the game early through Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club.

Root was educated at King Ecgbert School in Dore before joining the Yorkshire County Cricket Club academy system as a teenager, where his batting was fast-tracked through the county’s age-group set-up alongside future England teammates.

Root progressed through Yorkshire’s second-team cricket before earning a first-class debut for the county in 2010. Strong performances over the following two seasons, including centuries against county and touring opposition, pushed him into England Lions selection and then the senior Test set-up.

He made his England Test debut in December 2012 against India in Nagpur, batting at number six and scoring 73 not out in the second innings on a turning pitch, an innings widely credited with securing his place in the side. His One Day International debut followed in August 2013, and a Twenty20 International debut came the same year. Root’s composed technique against spin and pace alike marked him quickly as a long-term fixture of the England batting order.

Root has become England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer. By mid-2026 he had passed 14,000 Test runs from more than 160 appearances at an average above 50, placing him second on the all-time list of Test run-scorers behind only Sachin Tendulkar, according to ESPNcricinfo’s player statistics. He holds the England record for Test centuries with 41, and in October 2024 he posted his highest Test score of 262 against Pakistan in Multan, breaking his own previous best of 254 against the same opposition in 2016.

Root captained England’s Test side from 2017 to 2022. According to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s official announcement, he stepped down in April 2022 after a difficult run of results including a heavy Ashes defeat, having overseen a record 64 Tests and 27 wins as captain, both England records; he was succeeded by Ben Stokes. His 5,295 runs scored while captain are also the most by any England Test captain. He was part of England’s 2019 Cricket World Cup-winning squad, finishing as one of the tournament’s leading run-scorers, and holds the England record for ODI centuries with 20.

In June 2026, Root was named England’s interim Test captain for the closing matches of the home series against New Zealand after Ben Stokes was stood down amid an off-field ECB disciplinary matter, marking Root’s first Test captaincy since 2022. In franchise cricket, Root went unsold at the 2018 Indian Premier League auction, then was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 1 crore (roughly $122,000) at the December 2022 mini-auction ahead of the 2023 season, making his IPL debut that year. He played sparingly for the Royals and opted out of the IPL 2024 retention process, citing the need to manage his workload against an already packed England schedule, and has not returned to the tournament since.

Neither the ECB nor Root has ever published his exact salary, so figures below are drawn from cricket trade-press and industry estimates rather than confirmed disclosures. Root’s central England contract is estimated by multiple outlets, including reporting on ECB central contract pay bands, to be worth roughly £800,000 to £900,000 a year at the top tier he occupies. On top of that, England’s standard Test match fee is reported at around £12,500 to £15,000 per match; with Root typically playing ten or more Tests in a busy year, match fees alone can add well over £100,000.

He also holds a separate domestic contract with Yorkshire CCC, and endorsement income — discussed in more detail below — is estimated in the region of $1 million to $2 million a year. His single IPL contract in 2023 added a one-off INR 1 crore (about $122,000), a modest figure by IPL standards reflecting his limited franchise involvement. Combined, Root’s total cricket and commercial income in a full international year is commonly estimated in the region of £1.5 million to £2 million, though this spans several separate, imprecisely disclosed income streams rather than one confirmed total.

Root has held an elite-tier ECB central contract for roughly a decade, first earning one in the mid-2010s as his Test place became secure. Per the ECB’s official 2025-26 central contracts announcement, Root was awarded one of fourteen new-format England Men’s Two-Year Central Contracts in November 2025, running through September 30, 2027, alongside teammates such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer. He additionally holds a long-standing county contract with Yorkshire, the club he has represented throughout his first-class career and briefly captained in white-ball cricket.

His IPL auction history is comparatively thin next to England white-ball specialists: unsold in 2018, then bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 1 crore at the 2023 mini-auction as reported by CricketAddictor’s auction coverage. He opted out ahead of the 2024 retention deadline and has not signed a fresh IPL deal since, meaning his current income is anchored almost entirely in ECB and Yorkshire contracts rather than franchise Twenty20 cricket.

Root’s most significant commercial partnership is with New Balance, which he joined in a multi-year equipment and apparel deal beginning around England’s tour in October 2015, as covered by SportsPro’s report on the signing. The deal covers his bats, gloves, pads, footwear and clothing, and industry estimates put its value at more than $300,000 a year, making it one of the longer-running individual athlete deals in English cricket.

Beyond New Balance, Root has been a brand ambassador for Vitality, the health and life insurance company that has also sponsored England cricket more broadly, and has had associations with the grooming brand Brut and wealth manager Brewin Dolphin. He has generally taken a selective approach to sponsorship, favoring a small number of long-term partnerships over a large portfolio of short-term deals, which analysts estimate brings in a combined $1 million to $2 million annually.

Root is a co-founder of Play Padel Sheffield, a padel court venue business in his home city. According to Insider Media’s coverage of the venture, the company secured planning approval for a second Sheffield site adjacent to the Meadowhall shopping centre, expanding on its first venue as the fast-growing sport of padel has taken off in the UK.

Outside of the padel business, no other publicly confirmed business ventures, company directorships, or investment portfolios for Root are documented in available reporting. Unlike some contemporaries who have built visible property or hospitality portfolios, Root’s off-field profile leans toward this single hometown sporting venture rather than a broader investment spread.

Root’s family home is in Dore, an affluent suburb on the southwestern edge of Sheffield known for its highly-rated schools and where several other sporting and public figures also live. Neither the property’s purchase price nor its current value has been publicly confirmed, and Root has kept the details of his home life largely private.

No verified reporting identifies specific luxury vehicles, additional properties, or other major personal assets beyond his stake in the Play Padel Sheffield venue described above. This profile does not assign a luxury-asset classification for Root, as no substantiated purchase is on record; his known assets are limited to the family home and the padel business interest.