Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has suggested England captain Joe Root to bat at number three during the upcoming Ashes in view of his good performance in Test cricket this year.
Root has been the highest run-scorer in Test cricket in 2021, scoring 1455 runs in 23 innings at an average of 66.13, coming at number four. Overall, Root’s average at number four is 53.37, while at number three is 38.66. Root averages 38 with six half-centuries in Australia, while his overall Test career stands at 50.12 with 23 centuries and 50 half-centuries.
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“The question I would ask Joe is ‘why don’t you bat at three?’ Haven’t really proven that they can actually bat three (for England),” Chappell said on the Ashes preview event for Wide World NS Play (WWOS).
“Joe has all the credentials to bat at three, there is never going to be a better time to bat at number 3 because he is in great form, but he will not bat at number 3. He could be lucky in Australia, and could be No. 3 (David) Malan, and Malan I think is a fair player. If Malan has a good series on three and keeps Joe away from bowling for a while, then he gets a chance to work. But, I wouldn’t trust luck, I was saying if that was what I was, ‘I’m batting on three’, said Chappell, who represented Australia in 75 Tests.
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The 78-year-old further took a dig at Root’s captaincy, saying that he would be heavily dependent on the inputs of all-rounder Ben Stokes.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about his captaincy, I don’t think it’s great. He has a problem with imagination which is important in Australia. His best chance with captaincy is that he gets a lot of advice from (Ben) Stokes takes, and Stokes establishes himself as a very aggressive player.”
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