Ben Stokes distances himself from changing Joe Root as England captain

Ben Stokes has thrown his help behind Joe Root’s England cricket captaincy, claiming he has no aspiration to switch him within the high job.

When Root leads the facet out in Sydney on Wednesday he’ll develop into the longest-serving Check skipper within the nation’s historical past, overtaking predecessor Sir Alastair Cook dinner’s earlier file of 59 matches.

However any sense of pleasure in that achievement might be tempered by the truth that, for the third time, he has simply led an unsuccessful Ashes marketing campaign. After a 4-0 defeat in 2017/18 and a 2-2 draw at house in 2019, he now finds his facet 3-0 down and hoping merely to avert a whitewash.

After 4 and a half years within the job, it could hardly be classed as a radical transfer if both Root or his employers determined it was time for a change.

Neither get together has given any indication that they’re about to drag the set off on such a transfer and now vice-captain Stokes, by any reckoning the one apparent substitute, has distanced himself from any discuss of succession planning.

He has led the Check staff as soon as earlier than, in a dropping trigger towards the West Indies when Root was on the delivery of his second baby, however doesn’t covet the function.

“I’ve by no means actually had an ambition to be a captain,” he stated, addressing the hypothesis.

“Captaincy is greater than about setting fields, selecting the staff, making choices on the market within the center. A captain is somebody you wish to exit and play for. Joe Root is somebody I all the time wish to play for.

“It’s completely Joe’s resolution. He shouldn’t be compelled into doing it. I’m certain Cooky felt the identical approach. He did it for thus lengthy and when he knew his time was up, his time was up. These discussions haven’t entered wherever close to Joe but.

“I don’t sense that in any respect with Joe. He’s introduced this staff a good distance. He’s carried out some nice issues. Clearly this collection hasn’t gone too properly, not from a captaincy standpoint, however from a staff and outcomes standpoint.”

Stokes additionally used his appreciable place of affect to agency up head coach Chris Silverwood’s place. There’s a sense that he’s a likelier fall man than Root when submit mortem concludes, however Stokes went out of his strategy to counter that narrative.

“Sadly, the captain and coach bear the scrutiny for (outcomes), however there are 10 different guys on the market within the subject,” he stated.

“That’s (the media’s) job, to say, ‘Ought to individuals step down?’. On the finish of the day, an important individuals’s opinions are these guys within the dressing room and so they’ve bought our thorough help.

“Chris Silverwood, precisely the identical. He’s an actual gamers’ coach. He stands up for you as people and gamers as properly. All of the hype within the media lately about their futures, it’s your job to jot down that, however they know full properly they’ve the help of everybody in there and that’s all that issues.”

Stokes’ participation within the Ashes was unsure for a very long time, as he took a hiatus from the sport to deal with his psychological well being and restoration from a finger damage.

His return to the fold offered an enormous psychological carry for the squad, however his on-field performances have been by his personal evaluation “fairly common”.

One second within the first three matches does stand out in his reminiscence, although, an an electrical spell of new-ball bowling on the second night in Melbourne that ended with England 31 for 4 after simply 12 overs and heading for an innings defeat the subsequent morning.

Trying again on that spell, which he watched from the pavilion earlier than making a belated cameo after Jack Leach’s dismissal, Stokes couldn’t assist however marvel on the sense of theatre.

“Even I used to be watching that going, ‘I don’t know what I might do to counteract that’. That was a number of the highest high quality bowling I believe I’ve seen in a Check match,” he stated.

“I don’t suppose I’ve ever been booed by 49,000 individuals after I walked out. I really stated to a number of the guys the subsequent morning, it’s the primary time I’ve really been bowled over by an environment in a floor. Though we have been on the receiving finish of that, it was fairly particular to really feel that on the MCG.”