Mike Atherton says 'baby-faced' Root can 'disarm' Johnson with 'angelic smile' at No.3

Former England cricketer Michael Atherton has said that the 'angelic smile' of young 'baby-faced' batsman Joe Root makes him the ideal choice to replace Jonathan Trott in the No.3 batting spot for the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.

Following the departure of Jonathan Trott due to a stress-related illness, England is tossing up between Root and Ian Bell as Trott's replacement, although they will need to find themselves a new middle order batsman for Adelaide.

According to News.com.au, although Root struggled in the summer series when the likes of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle pitched the ball up, however, Atherton said that the batsman is ready as he played well at the dying end of the Test at the Gabba and looked solid.

Stating that Root, who is an opener by trade, managed to 'disarm' Australian firebrand Mitchell Johnson in the tense climax of the first Test to survive on 26 not out, Atherton also said that Root proved that he can stand up to the verbal and 150km/h heat, adding that his angelic smile seemed to disarm Johnson as well.

However, former Australian Test captain Ian Chappell and ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain are advocates of Bell, who was man of the series in the winter, scoring a century in each of England's victories.