Root confirms return to No.4

England captain Joe Root has confirmed he will return to No.4 in the batting for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand. Yorkshire star Root has spent much of his international career coming in at four, but he moved himself up to three for this summer’s Ashes series against Australia. The five-match series ended in a 2-2 draw, which meant Australia retained the urn, while Root’s average of 32.5 runs with the bat was 10 fewer than his record when coming in one place later. England will play their first Test match since the Ashes when they take on New Zealand in Tauranga next Wednesday and Root has confirmed he will move back to his more accustomed No.4 role, as he not only feels that suits his game, but it will also aid his captaincy. “I’d like to be consistent with it now, moving forward,” Root told the BBC. “It doesn’t always work exactly how you want it to but it would be nice for that to be the case. “I just think it suits my game a little bit more. It definitely fits in with captaincy a little bit better for me. “I know previous captains have preferred to get out there early and just get amongst it but I quite like to split the two and to really focus on my batting.” England will play two Tests against New Zealand, while they are also set to embark on tours of South Africa and Sri Lanka over the winter.