Joe Root is one of the top batsmen in world cricket right now. After Brad Haddin dropped him before he scored a run, he went on to score one of the finest Ashes hundreds in memory. Root looked a class apart on Cardiffs slow pitch, as he elegantly made his way to 134. He followed this up with a fine fifty in the second innings as England set Australia a target they wouldnt come close to troubling. Root has seemingly battered everywhere in the England order, and some say his development has been stunted by this movement. Hes now arguably the most settled member of the side however, and the time is right to move him up to three where he can influence the game the most. Its an old cricket adage to bat your top batsmen at number three. Brian Lara made this spot his own for the West Indies in the mid 90s, Ricky Ponting demoralised attacks for a decade for Australia and Kumar Sangakkara has seemingly churned out runs for fun at one down for Sri Lanka over the years. Joe Root has the technique, the game and the temperament to make Englands number three spot his for a very long time. Gary Ballance may also benefit with the move down to five, although his statistics at three are hard to ignore. Still, with in this sort of touch, you want to get him in the game as quickly as possible.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
