Sir Ian Botham has called for Ben Stokes to be moved up the batting order following his performance during England's Test series with South Africa.

England begin a five-match ODI series against the Proteas on Wednesday, and Beefy has tipped the 24-year-old to start at four or five behind Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Joe Root.

"I'd be looking at moving Stokes up the order. He was in terrific form in the Test series and could be the stand-out player in this one-day series," Botham told Sky Sports News.

"England need to bat him as high as possible - four or five at least - we've seen the impact he can have with the bat."

Stokes hit a career-best 258 during the second Test in Cape Town last month, setting records for the fastest Test 250 and the most runs in a Test innings from a number six.

Written by
Neil Wilkes