Ben's Stoking the fire

NEW ENGLAND CAPTAIN PUTS ROOT BACK TO FOUR IN THE BATTING... AND ASKS WHEN THE NEXT ASHES ARE!

- DEAN WILSON

ENGLAND are again looking for a new No.3 after Ben Stokes made the call to move Joe Root back to four in the batting 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 telephone call Stokes made as soon as Rob Key got the managing director job to tell Key that he was ready for the captaincy.

All three shouts give a glimpse into both the maturity of Stokes at 30 with 82 Tests under his belt and the tactical prowess that he hopes to bring to the job as skipper.

Root, the finest batsman in the Three Lions set-up, was prepared to sacrifice some of his own output by pushing himself back up to three in the Caribbean for the good of the team, who were still struggling for top-order runs.