Joe Root became the second Englishman to score 10,000 Test runs after scoring a brilliant match winning hundred in the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's.
In doing so, Root became just the 14th player ever to reach the milestone and the joint-youngest along with Sir Alastair Cook. However, cricket statistician Andrew Samson, who previously worked for BBC Test Match Special, has revealed Cook actually reached the milestone quicker than Root due to leap years.
The pair were both exactly 31 years and 157 days old when they scored their 10,000th Test run, but in terms of days Cook was 11,479 days old while Root was 11,480 days old. "Root did not have an extra leap day," Samson explained in a tweet.
"He had an extra leap year included in the years. They both included 8 29 Febs, but Cook only had 7 complete leap years, Root had 8."
And cricket fans were left with their minds blown by the revelation, with one tweeting: "Sensational stattage. Everyone was worried about the exact time of birth and of the 10,000th run". A second added: "This is the greatest stat in the history of cricket!!"
"This margin by cook while defeating root is less than by which England won World Cup in 2019," joked a third. "I love cricket for stats like this," added another. "A game of numbers indeed."
Cook was at Lord's working as a commentator when Root scored his 10,000th run and told BBC Sport: "It is absolutely mad that it is exactly the same age. I am happy to call it a draw...
"I was so glad I was here to witness that - an unbelievable knock by an unbelievable player. He is the most complete England batsman in all forms."
Root, meanwhile, labelled Cook "England's greatest ever batter" while reflecting on reaching the milestone. "I just love batting," he said.
"I want to score as many runs as I can for the group and it's nice to do it at the start of the summer. It is nice to be spoken about in the same breath as England's greatest ever batter Alastair Cook, it is a privilege."
