Billy Root
We talk to the younger brother of the England Test captain
BILLY Root has no regrets over his decision to draw stumps on his studies and focus solely on his cricket career.
The 24-year-old left-hander scored a blistering hundred for Nottinghamshire in a 10-run win against Warwickshire in the Royal London One Day Cup last week – an innings which suggests he could soon become an indispensable member of his county’s short format side.
All of which is a world away from the double life Root has been leading in recent years, combining his studies for a Sports Management degree at Leeds Beckett University with his longterm ambition of forging a career in the First Class game.
It has been a juggling act, involving long nights of hitting the books after long days of hitting the nets and churning out runs in the middle.
After indefinitely postponing the final year of his degree course, though, Root is now focused solely on establishing himself at Trent Bridge.
“I’m enjoying it an awful lot but you have to make sure you’re in a good place to play every match,” he says.
“When I was studying it was a different challenge because you would come off the cricket pitch after fielding for 90 overs and then write 3,000 words. That was mentally a lot more tiring than just playing cricket all the time. That actually, at times, made the cricket quite difficult.
“Was it a tough decision to leave Uni? I suppose it was in some ways but the timeframe you have as a cricketer in terms of the length of career you can have is relatively short. I thought it was better to focus on it now rather than later.”
Root enjoyed an impressive spell with Leeds/Bradford MCCU, scoring his maiden first class century against Sussex at Hove last April.
He then scored an unbeaten 66 for Notts in their final match of a relegation-doomed season against Somerset at Taunton in September.
By then he had already made up his mind to leave university and concentrate fully on making a name for himself at the one county that his given him a decent opportunity following his rejection by Yorkshire in his late teens.
And that innings against Warwickshire has handed him a further boost in his bid to build a career in the game.
“I must have been 50 off 70 (balls) so it (the hundred) kind of snuck up on me,” he says. “It was just nice to establish myself and really justify selection more than anything. To get the win was even more special because there’s no point getting the runs if you don’t win, is there?
“The problem was we were batting first so I couldn’t really enjoy it until the game was over. It was more a case of going to get some food and then get back out on the field and try to take some wickets and catches. I didn’t really have time to think about it until I was on my way home and the next day.”
Just breaking into this Nottinghamshire side is a feat in itself. In their recent match with Yorkshire – which saw England captain Joe Root seal the win with a towering six over mid-wicket off his brother’s off-spin – only two players on each side were without an international cap.
The younger Root, though, is beginning to look and feel at home amongst such esteemed company. “We’ve got a lot of fine players,” he says. “What will be will be in terms of breaking into the four-day side because if you play well you’ll get the opportunity.
“There’s plenty of talent and a lot of experience to learn from. Even in the nets, if you do something slightly differently, players like Broady (Stuart Broad) will pick up on it and give you a decent bit of feedback.
“To have feedback from a bloke who has played a lot of Test cricket can’t be bad. The OneDay Cup has been fantastic so far this season.
“All the internationals are available. Just look at the Yorkshire team who beat us, they were a team playing somewhere near their peak with a team absolutely full of outstanding talent. I think everyone is really enjoying the 50 over stuff this season.”
It’s a world away from the one man and his dog-type crowds that Root grew accustomed to during his time with Leeds/Bradford MCCU.
“When we were playing against the counties, it was sometimes a case of men against boys because the standard of county cricket is so advanced,” he says.“But the university system is a great shop window for some people.”
A fact that Root is now busy proving.