IT’S FOUR THE BEST
Stokes makes Root call
ENGLAND are again looking for a new No.3 after Ben Stokes made the call to move Joe Root back to four in the order.
It was the third big call that Stokes has made in the last few weeks, the other two being the decision to put himself back to six as the fulcrum all-rounder of the side and the actual call Stokes made to Rob Key as soon as he got the managing director job to tell him he was ready for the captaincy.
All three decisions give a glimpse into both the maturity of Stokes at 30, with 82 Tests under his belt, but also the tactical prowess that he hopes to bring to the job as skipper.
The finest batsmen in the Three Lions set-up was prepared to sacrifice some of his output by pushing himself back up to three in the West Indies for the good of the team who were still struggling for top-order runs.
But Stokes doesn’t think it makes the most of Root’s talents as a batsman and he intends to lean heavily on his predecessor for both runs and advice.
“I’ve already spoken with Joe,” said Stokes. “I’ve asked him to go back to four and I’m going to be at six.
“Wherever Joe bats he gets runs, but his best position is at four.
“I feel him at four and me at six gives us a bit of experience in the gap.
“So you can obviously see where the places are opening up for people to put their hands up – it’s three and five.
“Joe will probably be averaging 90 now instead of 60, so it’ll be good.
“And I told him when I phoned him that I will be using him, especially in my first few months in the job.
“I have a certain amount of experience in leading but Joe has done it for six years.”
Stokes might have one or two things to pick up, such as when he would constantly ask Root when tea and the close of play is. That will be important when it comes to juggling his bowlers.
Refreshingly he also didn’t precisely know when the next Ashes series was. “Is it next year?” he said.
The Ashes might define every England Test era, and of course the lack of an Ashes series win will sting Root, but it cannot be the be all and end all, especially when the team have won one game in 17.
Stokes said: “One thing I don’t want to do is look six months or a year ahead to the next Ashes. All I want to do is concentrate on what I’ve got coming up.”