JOE ROOT has been nominated for both the ICC’s international and Test player of the decade awards, and Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale is expecting plenty more accolades to come his way, writes Graham Hardcastle.

“If he still has the hunger for the game and the game doesn’t get on top of him and drain the enthusiasm he has, he could still be in this kind of discussion in 10 years’ time,” said Gale, one of the England Test captain’s biggest fans.

“He’s a fit lad who looks after himself and could play for as long as he wants.”

Root, 29, is amongst many star names to have been recognised for their performances at the top level between January 1, 2011 and October 7, 2020.

The Yorkshire star has been nominated for the international player award, recognising performances across all three formats.

In that time period, Root has scored 14,678 runs in 278 appearances, also taking 61 wickets.

Root, who only made his England debut in late 2012, has also been nominated for the Test award and has scored 7,823 runs from 97 appearances.

“Rooty’s rightly in the mix for those awards because he’s definitely one of the world’s best,” continued Gale.

“When you get a glimpse of him up close, like we do now and again at Yorkshire, you not only get to see how good he is as a player, but also as a bloke and how good he is around the dressing room.

“People have written him off as a T20 player a bit, but some of the knocks he played for us in the Blast this summer were fantastic.

“The one against Lancashire at Old Trafford (64 off 39 balls), even though we didn’t win the game, was breathtaking to watch.

"He makes batting look so easy, and it’s great for our lads to watch.”

Root’s international player of the decade nomination comes alongside Indians Ravi Ashwin and Virat Kohli, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, Australian Steve Smith, AB De Villiers from South Africa and New Zealand’s former White Rose overseas Kane Williamson.

Also nominated for the Test award are Kohli, Smith, Williamson, England bowling superstar Jimmy Anderson, Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and Pakistan’s Yasir Shah.

Fans’ vote will make up 10 per cent of the voting, while votes from a panel of experts will make up the remaining 90 per cent.

The voting process is open on the ICC’s website until Wednesday, December 16. Visit icc-cricket.com to vote.