Meanwhile England great Geoffrey Boycott, renowned as an

stubbornly defensive opening batsman, told the Daily Telegraph that "Root has to be more adventurous than Alastair Cook".

"Being careful is OK up to a point, but imagination, flair and taking a risk are absolute musts," added the Yorkshireman who was England captain briefly in 1978.

Root played for the same Sheffield Collegiate club as Michael Vaughan, who also had limited captaincy experience before becoming a successful England skipper.

"When Michael was appointed England captain, he had not been captain of Yorkshire.. yet he was brilliant because he was innovative," said Boycott.

If Root were to succeed Cook, he would be joining fellow contemporary star batsmen Virat Kohli (India), Steve Smith (Australia) and Kane Williamson (New Zealand) as a Test captain.

"It reminds me of the 1980s, where we had the four great all-rounders -- Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan -- all competing on the world stage," said Gillespie.

"This decade we've got four great batsmen in Joe Root, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson and with them now all leading their countries, provided Root gets the job, to me it seems a similarly exciting time to be a cricket fan."

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)