New England captain Ben Stokes confirms his predecessor Joe Root will return to his ‘best position’ at No. 4 in the batting lineup… after the all-rounder confirmed his own move to No. 6 for the New Zealand series next month
- Joe Root was moved up to three in the Test series loss to the West Indies
- New England captain Ben Stokes has confirmed he will return to number four
- Stokes’ first series as captain will be against New Zealand in June
Joe Root will return to the Test cricket ranks at number four in the batting order as Ben Stokes will put his stamp on the England squad.
Root surprisingly switched places for his final streak before the recent captaincy change – the 1-0 loss to West Indies – despite an astonishing 12 months leading up to it, which saw him hit six hundred between the tour Sri Lanka in January 2021 and the end of Ashes this year.
The theory was that his three-way promotion would help solve England’s longstanding problems at the top of the order.
Joe Root is set to return to his favorite position of number four in the Test batting lineup
Ben Stokes, who took over from Root as captain, will beat at number six against New Zealand
However, Stokes is unwilling to sacrifice the team’s greatest strength to correct its greatest weakness and has followed the confirmation of his own move to number six for his first series against New Zealand next month by signing Root’s name in the position he’s been in the most. prolific. During his time as captain, Root averaged 34.41 in 17 three-way games; 51.48 in 49 four.
“I have already spoken with him. I asked him to come back at four and I will be at six,” Stokes revealed.
“Wherever Joe hits he gets points, but his best position is at four. I feel it at four and I at six gives us some experience in the gap. So you can obviously see where the squares open up for people to raise their hands: it’s three and five.
Stokes scored a whopping 161 in his first game since being named captain last month
On Friday, Stokes scored his own move to six in typically exuberant fashion, arriving at the New Road crease with Durham 360 for four and unleashing a 64-ball cent, achieved with five consecutive sixes from Worcestershire teenage spinner Josh Baker. In total, his innings of 161 of 88 deliveries included 17 boundary clearances – a new county championship record.
It remains to be seen how the new formation will affect Jonny Bairstow’s place in the team. The Yorkshireman notched hundreds of consecutive number six Test appearances in Sydney and Antigua earlier this year, his first since contributing from number three against Sri Lanka in November 2018.
A return to the first drop is potentially on the cards, although Tom Haines’ form with Sussex could see him form a new left-handed opening combination with Alex Lees and Zak Crawley returning to three. That would leave the Bairstow at 83 caps in a lock-up for a mid-order spot with Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook uncapped, challenging Ben Foakes for the wicketkeeper gloves or being completely overlooked for the umpteenth times of his career.
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