Joe Root on Ben Stokes: "I just want my friend to be okay"

Stokes is taking an indefinite break from cricket to focus on his mental wellbeing, as well as allowing more time for his recovery from a finger injury

“From my point of view, I just want my friend to be okay,” said Joe Root, speaking about Ben Stokes, his vice-captain and teammate as far back as their England Under-19 days.

They were the first words of Root’s press conference to preview England’s Test series against India, for which he will be without his talismanic allrounder, who is taking an indefinite break from cricket to focus on his mental wellbeing, as well as allowing more time for his recovery from a finger injury.

Quite what it means for the make-up of the hosts’ line-up when the toss takes place on Wednesday morning at Trent Bridge remains unclear; in the past, Stokes’ absence has left England reticent to pick a spinner, given the difficulties in balancing a side without his twin talents as a batsman and a fourth seam bowling option.

Root briefly pointed to Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, who have come up trumps in the past, including on India’s last Test trip to these shores in 2018 and last summer’s victory over Pakistan, where Woakes’ batting at Emirates Old Trafford won his team the first Test in conjunction with Jos Buttler.

But in the main, Root didn’t speculate much further, instead focusing on Stokes, his mate. “Anyone that knows Ben, he always puts other people in front of himself and first,” he said. “Now is an opportunity for him to put himself first, to take time to look after himself and get himself to a good place again. Hopefully that can be sooner rather than later.

“Cricket has to be a secondary thought, a long way down the line, and he should take as much time as he needs. He’s got my full support on that and he’s been assured he’s got the ECB’s full support on that. And certainly, he’s got the whole team’s support. More than anything, we just want Ben to be okay. He’s got everyone behind him.

🗣 "I just want my friend to be okay"

England captain Joe Root says the whole squad is behind Ben Stokes' decision to take a break from cricket#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/zeCUBTVYDN

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) August 2, 2021

“I had a conversation with Ben and that’s when I found out. The call will stay between the two of us. For me, it was hard to see a friend like that. More than anything I just want him to be okay. What was said between us two stays between us two. I think throughout this it’s important for people to respect his privacy to give him the best chance to deal with this in his own way. I just want him to be okay and I’ll be there for him as much as I can be and he wants.”

On Stokes, the cricketer, he added: “In my opinion, there is no one that compares to Ben Stokes in world cricket. For a long time, he’s been very much the heartbeat of this team.”

Root himself comes into the next month just 22 runs shy of becoming England’s all-time leading run-scorer across all formats.

But far from his own landmarks, he has plenty more on his plate at the moment. He explained that a decision on the status of this winter’s Ashes tour would come in due course and that until England’s players “know the lay of the land”, it would be “very hard to make any sort of decision”.

It was reported last week that some England players were considering pulling out of the flagship series in Australia should their families be unable to travel.

With the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman taking place before the five Test matches, England’s players and staff face the possibility of spending four months away from home and their loved ones.

A joint statement between the ECB and the PCA read: ““All stakeholders are committed to putting player and staff welfare as the main priority and finding the right solutions that enables the England team to compete with the best players and at the highest possible standard that the Ashes series deserves.”

^{Stokes captained a much-changed England side in an ODI series victory over Pakistan}

Root added: “What I will say is as players, going and playing Ashes cricket in Australia, having the opportunity for England, to lift that urn, is one thing you dream about from being four, five, six years old. That does not change. Of course, there are challenges, but everyone is desperate to be part of an Ashes series in Australia. It’s just at what cost. Until we know what the lay of the land is it’s very difficult to make any sort of decision.

“We are still very passionate about Ashes cricket, we know our responsibilities as players, wanting to look after the integrity of Test cricket and the implications of this tour, so of course any decision that is made will not be made lightly. It will be very well considered and worked through with the ECB and PCA, and hopefully we can find ourselves in Sydney or Perth or wherever that last Test match is, lifting the urn.”