Ben Stokes confirms Joe Root will hit number 4 in Tests© AFP
New England skipper Ben Stokes has announced that star batter and former captain Joe Root will be number four in the batting formation in the upcoming Test series against New Zealand. Root, who stepped down last month after five years in the role, had moved up to number three for England’s most recent tour of the West Indies, resulting in a 1-0 defeat.
The former England captain has an excellent average of 51.27 batting at number four, which is almost 12 runs higher than his score (39.67) at batting at three.
“I’ve already talked to Joe. I’ve asked him to go back to four and I’ll be there at six. Wherever Joe hits, he gets runs, but his best position is at four. Joe will probably average 90 now instead of 60 (Root’s average in 2021), so it will be good,” ICC quoted Ben Stokes as saying.
“I feel him at four and me at six gives us a little bit of experience in that gap. So you can clearly see where the places are opening up for people to raise their hands, it’s three and five,” he added to.
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“I now feel like I need to watch a lot more of the county games to see who scores rather than just checking Durham’s score,” Stokes said.
The first test between England and New Zealand starts on June 2 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
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