Joe Root says he will remain at number four for England
Wednesday 9 December 2015 10:04, UK
Leading England batsman Joe Root says he hopes he can remain at number four in the order, rather than being pushed up to open.
England have struggled to find a regular opening partner for skipper Alastair Cook since Andrew Strauss departed from the international scene and Root himself dropped down the order after opening in the 2013 Ashes series.
Alex Hales is poised to get his chance in the upcoming series in South Africa and Root thinks the Nottinghamshire man could prosper at the top of the order.
And, while he says he will happily open if it is in the best interests of the team, Root is keen to stay at the position where he has enjoyed unprecedented success.
The squad we are taking out there has huge amounts of talent in it and whoever gets that opportunity (to open) will be wanting to grasp it with both hands and put their name forward for a long period of time.
An England regular in all formats, Root has racked up 2,131 international runs in 2015 - the most by an England player in a calendar year.
And he told Sky Sports News HQ: "I am quite happy where I am at the moment.
"I feel that I am contributing to the side quite regularly and feel quite comfortable there but obviously we will have to see what happens down the line."
Asked if he would welcome another shot at opening, he added: "Not ideally but sometimes you have got to put the team first.
"If that is what needs to happen then that is fine, but I do feel that I am quite used to that role now (at number four) and have been quite successful there, so I would quite like to stay there."
Asked if Hales has what it takes to succeed as a Test opener, Root added: "Definitely.
"You saw the way he played in the one-day game in Abu Dhabi (against Pakistan) where he scored a magnificent hundred. That will give him huge amounts of confidence leading into the tour.
"We have got a couple of warm-up games leading up to that first Test match so I am sure whoever gets the nod will have to perform extremely well in those as well.
"The squad we are taking out there has huge amounts of talent in it and whoever gets that opportunity (to open) will be wanting to grasp it with both hands and put their name forward for a long period of time."
Watch England's tour of South Africa live on Sky Sports 2 HD this winter - coverage of the first Test starts on December 26 at 7.30am.
