Joe Root to bat at No. 4 for New Zealand Tests, confirms Ben Stokes

England’s newly appointed Test skipper Ben Stokes has revealed that ex-captain Joe Root will return to his number four position while the former will bat at six for the upcoming home Tests against New Zealand. Root had to be pushed to number three in the recent tour of West Indies for the team’s benefit, however, it has never been his comfort zone. The right-hander averages 39.67 at number three while he averages 51.27 at number four which clearly sums up the reason behind Stokes wanting him at number four.

Also, there will be a vacant position at number three for which there are a lot of options at the moment including Tom Haines while number five is expected to be grabbed by Jonny Bairstow who hit back-to-back centuries against Australia and West Indies. Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, and Harry Brook are among the options as well and it will be a crucial call while picking the side as it could be the template for the next few series.

Wherever Joe Root bats, he gets runs: Ben Stokes

Stokes mentioned that he has had a conversation with Root about the batting positions and finalized the order for the New Zealand series with vacancies at three and five. He noted about Root getting runs at any position but wanted him at four specifically to bring in the experience factor.

“I’ve already spoken with him. 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,” Stokes said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

The first Test between England and New Zealand gets underway on June 2 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.