Joe Root Reveals Player He Knew Would Play for England After Watching Him Aged 10

Joe Root has revealed the England player he was certain would represent his country - after meeting him when he was just 10 years old.

Root scored his 19th ODI century on Sunday as England defeated South Africa by 342 runs - the biggest-ever margin of victory in 50-over international cricket history.

The 33-year-old became the second-highest run scorer in Test cricket history during the recent series against India, and is closing on record holder Sachin Tendulkar.

His next task will be to finally conquer Australia in an away Ashes series, having been on the losing side on England's last three visits Down Under.

On Wednesday, Root appeared on The Overlap's 'Stick to Cricket' podcast alongside Michael Vaughan, Phil Tufnell, David Lloyd and his former England team-mate Sir Alastair Cook.

The podcast opened with a brief analysis of England's recent ODI win over South Africa, and Root's 182-run partnership with Warwickshire's Jacob Bethell.

The 21-year-old had never scored a century in any form of professional cricket before taking to the crease in Southampton, but smashed 110 off just 82 balls.

Bethell was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, and spent his formative years playing cricket in the Caribbean before moving to England aged 12.

And Root revealed how he met the left-hander two years earlier at the end of England's tour of the West Indies in 2014.

He said: "I was there with England. He would have been 10, I reckon. I tried to get Yorkshire to sign him, when he got to 12 or 13.

"We played a one-dayer in Bridgetown, and then stayed on for a little break afterwards with the family.

"My dad and his dad played club cricket together, for about 10 years or so, so we caught up with them. And it just so happened that he was playing an under-12s game.

"He got a hundred off 20 overs. I mean, he was half the size of everyone else. Played beautifully.

"I remember going back to theirs for some food and a few drinks, and he's knocking a ball on some string over the pool, playing all of his shots.

"You can see with his maturity and the way he plays now, he's well beyond his years. He just had everything. He had all the shots. Even though he might not have had the power, he could hit the ball all around the ground."

Bethell has had a difficult summer at times, headlined by a lack of cricket either side of the India series.

England allowed the left-hander to play in the Indian Premier League with Royal Challengers Bengaluru instead of playing red-ball cricket with Warwickshire, but he only batted twice.

He was then parachuted into the England team for the fifth and final Test against India, but looked like a batter short of confidence and time at the crease as he scored 6 and 5 in his two innings.

But the ECB continued to put their faith in Bethell, naming him as captain for the upcoming T20 series against Ireland amid Harry Brook being rested.

He repaid that faith by scored a half-century in the second ODI against South Africa after being promoted up the order, before his maiden century in Southampton.

Bethell will almost certainly enter this winter's Ashes as England's reserve batter, but will hope to continue to ask questions of the selectors by scoring big runs before then.