Back Back

University bowled over by England Test cricket captain Joe Root

01/10/2019

England Test cricket captain Joe Root visited the University of Wolverhampton to offer his top tips to students and school pupils.

The University's Walsall Campus hosted a special visit from the cricket star on Monday, 30 September 2019.

Joe took part in a training session with local primary and secondary schools, offering his tips for success.

He also officially opened new £1million facilities in the University's William Penny Brookes building and tested out some of the latest sports science and research equipment on offer.

Staff and students were then treated to a 'audience with ...' event with the 2019 Cricket World Cup winner, during which he talked about this summer's cricket, the challenges of being a leader and his early days in the game.

The day ended with the presentation of an Honorary Doctorate of Sport by the University in recognition of Joe's significant sporting achievements and as an inspiration to others.

This was Joe's second visit to the University of Wolverhampton. The University sponsors Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club, where Joe's stellar career started, as part of plans to increase its presence in the city.

 

Joe said: "Receiving an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton is a huge honour. I feel extremely privileged and very humbled by it. I love the direction the University is going in and I love the opportunities it is creating for young students and how it is helping the community in surrounding areas from primary school children up, whether it is in sport of other areas.

"I think the facilities at the University are fantastic. You look at the Human Movement Lab and what that could do for knowledge within sport and the impact it could have on professional and leisure sport as well as general health, and the doors it could open for young academics is phenomenal. It is great to see that developing over the last couple of years - the University keeps growing and developing opportunities for students."

Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Layer said: "We were delighted to welcome Joe back to the University of Wolverhampton. Joe has achieved so much in his sporting career and is a great inspiration to our students, staff and the next generation of young cricketers. It was great to see him testing out our new sports science and research equipment in the William Penny Brookes building and it was a very memorable day for the school pupils who took part in the training session."

Joe visited the William Penny Brookes building which has undergone a £1million refurbishment to include cutting edge 3D motion capture technology which digitally record human movements and model motion to enable analysis of high speed body movement and gait.

Hi-tech equipment including a new environmental chamber to replicate nearly any climate on the planet is also being installed. This allows for the precise control of temperature, humidity and simulated altitude.

Existing facilities such as the Human Performance Laboratories have also been completely refurbished.

Joe Root represents Yorkshire domestically. He is currently ranked sixth in Test batting and eighth in ODI batting rankings according to the ICC Player Rankings, having previously been ranked the best Test batsman. Root was part of the England squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

For more information about studying sports science at the University of Wolverhampton, visit: www.wlv.ac.uk/sport or come along to the next Open Day on Saturday, 12 October 2019: www.wlv.ac.uk/opendays

Further information

For more information please contact the Media Relations Office on 01902 32 2736 or 01902 518647.

Date Issued: Tuesday, 01 October 2019

For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.

Share this release

Related Stories