Friday 17 November 2017 09:31, UK
Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Shane Warne and Sir Ian Botham discuss whether Joe Root should bat at three for England in the upcoming Ashes series.
The England captain has a better average batting at four (54.4) than he does batting at three (45.3) and has explicitly stated his preference for the former, but England have struggled to solve the problem of finding a player to stabilise the innings after the loss of the first wicket.
Root batted four times in the recent three-Test series against West Indies, and in only one of those innings had England scored more than 50 runs before the loss of the first two wickets, so Nasser Hussain believes Root should bat three to steady matters after losing an early wicket.
"Root is always coming in reacting to a crisis," said Hussain. "Wouldn't it be better if Root comes in before a crisis happens?"
However the Sky Sports pundit understood the difficulty of asking the skipper to play a role he isn't comfortable performing.
"What do you do if your captain says 'I want to bat at four' and you want him to bat at three?"
"I think personally, and I've said it all along, Joe should bat three. He's our best player and he can dictate the game, and the pace of the game, batting at three."
Sir Ian Botham feels that as the person leading the team, Root should take on the responsibility of influencing his side's innings early on.
"Look at the side's that you admired, the West Indian sides; Viv Richards bats at three," said Beefy.
"If you lose a wicket he can still turn that game around and he's in a position to, he's not going down at 10 for 2 and then you've got a different mindset.
"You've got him, and you've got Ricky Ponting, one of the great players. These guys were excellent players, they were captains and they took that position at three.
"I think personally, and I've said it all along, Joe should bat three. He's our best player and he can dictate the game, and the pace of the game, batting at three."
Shane Warne agreed with the former England all-rounder, particularly in the example of Ponting.
"Ricky Ponting, when I saw him bat at three, to me he was one of the greatest players that I played with in my time," said Warne.
"He was so proactive at number three, you'd lose an early wicket in that first over and suddenly the bowler's on the back foot 20 minutes later; they're defensive, the slips moves out to cover and you can actually get the momentum back in your favour."
The former Australia international subscribed to the importance of having your in-form batsmen at the top of the order, but questioned the dynamic of a team dictating affairs to the captain.
"The top three have got to do well, and your best player is Joe Root so he should bat number three for me.
"But, has there ever been a captain that's said 'I want to bat four' and suddenly the team has moved him?"
Michael Atherton said he too would pick Root at three, but was wary about forcing the skipper out of his preferred position so early in his tenure.
"His record suggests that he gets runs at four," said Atherton. "He has got runs opening and got runs at three as well, but generally at four.
"And because he's new to the captaincy this summer, I think he wanted to give himself a little bit of a breather having had time in the field.
"I think Root should bat three, but he doesn't want to and that's an issue."
Warne said the danger for Root is that the Australian team could use his unwillingness to do what's best for the team against him when he is out in the middle.
"I'm not sure the current team might have said the same stuff as what I might have said to him," Warne continued.
"But a lot of us would have [mentioned] the hiding down at number four when your team needs you at three and you don't want to do it.
"Just remind him of that stuff and hopefully he takes the bait and starts biting back, and suddenly you're in a contest with him."
