Joe Root has no concerns about moving up the order for England

Joe Root insists he is ready to bat at No 3 when England take on Pakistan in the first Test at Lord's, live on Sky Sports, on Thursday.

England were left searching for a new No 3 following Nick Compton's break from the sport and the selectors appear to have settled on Root, who has an average of 52.92 from 42 Test matches.

Regarding his elevation up the order, Root said: "We had a few discussions throughout the season that it could be a possibility moving forward.

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"I think the fact I had quite a long time to think about it, and to chat it over with the selectors, it probably made it a bit easier, rather than being thrown into the role.

"The way they've dealt with it has been really good and it's given me time to get my head around it.

"I feel pretty comfortable going into the series and it's now just about trying to make sure that moving forward that's something I feel comfortable with and I can keep making big scores and contributing to winning Test matches."

However, Root does not believe his promotion in the batting order will weaken the team in any way, claiming it gives other players a chance to flourish in the middle order.

"Someone like Jonny Bairstow would consider himself a middle order batsman anyway, and he's taken his game to another level," Root added.

"This series here now is a great opportunity for guys to stand up and really put some strong performances in.

"Guys like James Vince will really be looking forward to getting back out playing red-ball cricket again. He's got a little bit of experience under his belt and will gain confidence from that."