The following day came the news of another significant decision in the batting department, that Joe Root is set to move up the order from No.4 to No.3.

“He recognises that if the top order don’t lay the foundations, it makes it very difficult for those coming in in the middle order,” said Andrew Strauss, explaining that the call had come from the England captain himself.

And so another chapter begins for Root in a position he’s enjoyed a complicated relationship with. While he’s had success in the role – his Test-best of 254 against Pakistan in 2016 came at one-down – his record at No.4 is streets ahead. At four, he has amassed 5,179 runs at an average of 51.27; at three, the numbers drop down to 1,933 runs at 38.66.

Here we take a look at Root’s numerous stints in the No.3 role.

The first go

Root was first thrust into the position in difficult circumstances. Just over a year into his international career, he moved up the order to replace Jonathan Trott for the second Test of the 2013/14 Ashes after Trott left the tour due to a stress-related illness. He initially showed promise, hitting a 194-ball 87 at Adelaide, but the runs dried up in a nightmare series for him and his teammates that ended in a 5-0 loss. Come the fifth Test at Sydney, Root was dropped by England for the first and only time in his Test career.

The most productive stint

After two years of heavy run-making at four and five (he had one innings at No.3 in the UAE in 2015), during which he made it to the top of the ICC’s Test batting rankings, Root was persuaded to move to three in the summer of 2016 by head coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Alastair Cook. He played 12 Tests that year at three, his longest run in the role, and racked up more than 1,000 runs at an average of 48.90. But while he clearly showed he could do more than a job there, Root then moved back to No.4 the following summer in his first series as Test captain.

His first go as skipper

After England succumbed to a 4-0 defeat in the 2017/18 Ashes, Root took on the No.3 role in their next assignment (sound familiar?), batting at one-down in a Test against New Zealand. While he returned to No.4 for the second match of that series, he announced his decision to move back up at the start of the 2018 home summer. “I think it’s an opportunity for me to take on a bit more responsibility at the top of the order,” Root said at the time. “I’ve had a year in the captaincy now and I feel I’ve gained enough experience to feel comfortable doing that.”

This time, it didn’t work out as well. Root averaged 29.22 in nine knocks at three that summer and gave it up mid-way through a Test match at Southampton, with Moeen Ali promoted four spots from No.7 in England’s second innings. While England then tried five different No.3s across six Tests in the winter of 2018/19, Root steered clear from the role.

Another Ashes attempt

England’s failure to find an adequate replacement at No.3 meant Root returned to the role the following summer for the 2019 Ashes, but once again it proved a short-lived experiment. He batted through the whole series but was far from his best, returning three ducks and an average of 28.22.

The last attempt

Root went to No.3 for a couple more Tests in the summer of 2020, hitting one half-century in four innings, but returned to No.4 after Zak Crawley came in at three against Pakistan.