Joe Root and Ben Stokes - what they said

England duo Joe Root and Ben Stokes discussed a variety of pressing issues for the forthcoming season in Friday's Investec round-table chat with the national press. Here are some of the topics covered:
Joe RootJoe Root
Joe Root

Sheffield's Joe Root, On the possibility of moving up to number three in this summer's Tests: "I feel pretty settled at four. But if they want to change things, I'm sure we'll have a discussion about it."

Durham star Ben Stokes, On the same topic: "I would personally like to see him stay at four. He's been so successful, and it's a brilliant place for him to be batting.

"It means he's closer to where I bat ... and I enjoy batting with him! Stay four, mate."

Root, On England's hopes of reclaiming the International Cricket Council's number one Test ranking: "That's obviously a main goal of ours. But you can look miles ahead, and (then) fall miles short."

Root, On the England and Wales Cricket Board's new safety regulations for helmets: "Rules are rules.

"You can sort of see that, if it's impeding the vision, you almost feel just as unsafe.

"But these are the laws put in place, and if you want to play you're going to have to get used to it very quickly."

Stokes, On the prospect of a new points system across all formats to decide the winner of bilateral series: "Rubbish."