It's An Uncomfortable Truth Joe, You have To Bat No.3!

Peter Hayter insists that the England captain must show his team’s intent by moving up to No.3 for the Ashes.

- Peter Hayter

Just because you are in a vast minority, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wrong. But the longer Joe Root continues to believe he should stay at No.4 for England in the fast approaching Ashes, the more his thinking looks like stubbornness bordering on the plain obtuse.

In a straw-poll experiment conducted under strict laboratory conditions at the PCA Awards dinner last week, several England cricketers past, and some recently present, all with Ashes experience both away and home, were canvassed as to the matter of where the England skipper should bat against Australia this winter.

I won’t embarrass them by naming names, but not a single voice among them was raised in favour of Root sticking where he is, whether or not Ben Stokes is available to bat at No.6.

The detail in the answers differed but the thrust of the argument did not.

Root is, by some distance, the best batsman in the side and the best batsman in the side should bat at No.3. Indeed, the best batsman in this particular side must bat at No.3.

Those who disagree do so on grounds that appear reasonable, pragmatic even, but they are based on a mindset seemingly programmed in advance to accept the inevitability of failure and defeat.

England’s top-order batting is wafer-thin fragile.

Mark Stoneman is untried in Ashes cricket and still finding out how to bat at this level against anyone.

Of the other batsmen travelling on October 28, James Vince, Dawid Malan and Gary Ballance are all better suited to shot-making than block, grind and collect.

Thus, as against Australia’s high-class pace attack in their conditions, any contributions from them are pretty much going to be bonus runs, it doesn’t really matter where they bat so one of them may as well bat three as anywhere else.