NEWS
Follow UsEngland skipper Joe Root has claimed that, for the first time in his career, he is ‘really excited’ at the prospect of batting at number three, and believes that the new role will turn out to be the right fit for the team. In 2021 Root amassed a staggering 1708 runs whilst batting at No.4, but it has been confirmed that the right-hander, versus the Windies, will be batting at No.3, a position where he’s not had a great deal of success. In 53 innings at number three, Root has averaged 38.66 while scoring just two centuries.
But the 31-year-old has asserted that he is ready to take on the challenge of excelling at No.3, and believes the switch will benefit the team as it’ll enable him to support at least one of the openers, should an early wicket fall.
"I've expressed in the past that I prefer batting at four but I'm ready to take on three now," Root said, reported ESPN Cricinfo.
"I feel I'm very comfortable in the way I've been playing and performing over the last year or so, and I think it's the right fit for this team. To go and bat slightly higher up and, if we do lose an early wicket, support the openers, show a bit of leadership and responsibility and take the game on. Hopefully lay a bit of a platform to bat around.
"It's the first time it's sat comfortably with me. It's the first time I've been really excited and not slightly apprehensive about it. I am coming into it having had a really strong year, with a lot more clarity about how I'm going to score my runs.
“I'm not saying that guarantees success, I'll have to work really hard to transfer those performances to No.3. But I feel excited about it, I'm very motivated and I feel ready for it now. I'm a lot more experienced, with more cricket under my belt. I feel it's the right fit for this team."
Root’s captaincy came under the scanner following the crushing 4-0 defeat at the hands of Australia in the Ashes, but Andrew Strauss, England’s interim director of cricket, confirmed that the management had no plans of handing the reins over to a different person.
Root’s first assignment as skipper post the Ashes will be a three-Test series versus West Indies starting next month, and the 31-year-old believes that the tour of the Caribbean is a golden opportunity for the Three Lions to start afresh.
"Clearly it (The Ashes) was a disappointing tour and we massively underperformed. Off the back of it we have to use this opportunity for a fresh start. As Straussy's mentioned, [it's] a bit of a reset, and a real chance to take things forward. I'm very grateful that I've got the opportunity to do that as captain."
Root also confirmed that he never thought about quitting Test captaincy, and asserted that he wishes to continue leading England with passion for as long as he possibly could.
"I'm very passionate about trying to take this team forward. I'm grateful I've got that opportunity, I really am. But it's now very exciting, with that squad being announced, for us to be on the eve of that tour, to get out there and to really try and put all of the thoughts and all of the ideas and good feelings about it into action, and really put the wheels in motion and enjoy everything about it as well. It's a really exciting opportunity.
"I've not put a time limit on it, not at all," he said of his captaincy shelf-life "I'm very passionate about trying to help take this team forward. I'm excited about what's right ahead of us.
"Of course, the last couple of years in particular have been very difficult for a number of different reasons. Not just on field in the last year or so, but off the field as well. But again, this is a great opportunity to move things on again, and I'm really looking forward to that."
The three-Test series versus the Windies will commence on March 8th at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
