England batter Joe Root has hit back at comments made by former Australia cricketer and coach Darren Lehmann. The latter had earlier come out and stated that he doesn’t consider Root to be an “all-time great”, as he had not scored a century in Australia, against England’s biggest rivals. Root – who is England’s highest run-scorer in Test history – has now swiftly responded to Lehmann’s remarks. Root is set to play for England in three Tests against New Zealand away from home.

“My job is to score runs, right? To turn up every game and try to do all I can out in the middle. His job is to give his opinion and talk on the radio,” said Root to BBC Sport.

“I’ll do my job and he can do his job. He’s completely entitled to say what he wants. That’s his right. I have not spoken to him in a while,” Root further added.

Root currently boasts 12,754 Test runs in 149 Test matches, going ahead of previous record-holder Alastair Cook in 2024.

Root is also the highest run-scorer in Tests held in the calendar year of 2024, slamming 1,338 runs in 14 games. He will have another three Tests against New Zealand before the year ends to add to his tally.

It is important to note that Lehmann somewhat backtracked on his comments on social media later on, stating that Joe Root will probably end up slamming a century in the next Ashes series in Australia.

“He is going to be a great, I know that, and a wonderful ambassador for our game, but needs and – he will probably do – this next Ashes. Get a hundred in Australia and then no dispute,” tweeted Lehmann.

England next tour Australia for the Ashes in one year’s time, in November and December 2025. It will be a four-match Ashes series, which will be part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.