Joe Root has retained the ODI Men’s Player of the Summer award for the 2026 English summer. The Professional Cricketers’ Association confirmed the honour on September 27, 2026, the same day Root played his final ODI of the campaign against Sri Lanka at the Oval.
Root finished the summer with 326 ODI runs at an average of 54.33, a return that featured three unbeaten half-centuries against India. The PCA cited those contributions as central to England’s successful white-ball campaign across the season. Root also reflected on the collective effort, where England secured series victories against India and Sri Lanka.
“Yeah, looking forward to a couple of weeks before we head to Pakistan. It’s been a good one though. I think we’ve only lost two white-ball games all summer. So this group’s doing incredibly well, improving and learning all the time and moving in the right direction with the World Cup around the corner,” Root said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
How did England perform across the 2026 white-ball summer?
England won four of their six ODI matches during the 2026 summer, defeating Sri Lanka and India in consecutive series. Across the full campaign, the side dropped only two games, a record that pointed to a level of consistency that had not always been present in their recent white-ball cricket.
The squad also showed depth beyond Root’s individual output. Despite injuries affecting selection at various points during the summer, other members of the group contributed to the series results. The combination of individual form and team resilience allowed England to close the summer with two series wins from two.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t really matter how you get there. It’s getting there really, and the fact that guys have really stood up this series and shown the depth within the squad. We’ve obviously had a few injuries and guys miss out of this, so for some of the guys to come in and play as well as they have done is brilliant. It shows the depth that’s there, and it’s certainly going to be required with the amount of cricket that we’ve got coming up in this format in the next little while,” Root said.
What does Root’s award retention mean for England’s ODI setup?
Despite not having significant contributions against Sri Lanka, Root was the star of the show against India, scoring 249 runs across the series, with unbeaten scores of 76, 99 and 74 in the three matches. Root, who returned to being a regular fixture in the ODI side in early 2025, has once again become England’s talisman, which was underlined by his run against India.
“Yeah, I mean, I went a long time without really playing much of it. So the last little while to get back in the rhythm of it and playing a bit more frequently has been really good. I love where this team’s heading and how we’re building towards that World Cup. And with that, in a year or so’s time, as a carrot and an incentive for not just me but for the group, I think we’re trending in a really good way. So long may that continue and that hunger stays there, and we can keep putting match-winning performances and series wins before that comes around,” Root said.
