"Do it your way" – The message from one England captain to his stand-in

NICK FRIEND: It is a mark of both men – of Ben Stokes and of Joe Root – that the mutual respect they share means that neither will be any further than a phone call away over the course of the next few days

“Do you know what, the best message that I’ve received was when I got my photos done yesterday in the blazer. Rooty just left a message on the hanger, saying: ‘Do it your way.’”

That Ben Stokes would go about things in his own positive banner might not, in any case, have been in much doubt. But either way, it is a mark of both men – of Stokes and of Joe Root – that the mutual respect they share means that neither will be any further than a phone call away over the course of the next few days.

And that’s all it is, of course. England’s Test captain will return to the bio-secure fold in time for the second Test at Emirates Old Trafford; he is absent from the Ageas Bowl to be with his wife Carrie for at the birth of the couple’s second child.

Stokes is the beneficiary, for want of a better word: an ideal second-in-command and as good a stand-in as English cricket might reasonably wish for.

“I could see him doing a very good job,” Root said back in June when the perfect storm of a July Test series and a new family arrival became a reasonable possibility.

“One of his great qualities as vice-captain and as a leader is he sets the example. The way he goes about training, how he wants to bowl in difficult circumstances, the way he stands up in different scenarios with the bat – he drags people with him.”

Speaking on Saturday, chief selector Ed Smith added: “Ben has been both extremely focused on his own game, an incredibly hard worker in training, a relentless practiser and everything he does for his own game.

“And I can report that he has been very interested in everything to do with the team and has played a full and active part in all discussions in planning for the upcoming Test match. What I see is someone very focused and looking forward to the challenge.”

Come Wednesday – and bleak though the forecast may look, Root will be sat in front of his television in the unusual position of a spectator, joining an impatient nation in soaking up a belated fix of live cricket, phone at the ready should his deputy come calling for advice. “Just because Joe’s not here, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to use him,” Stokes adds.

“Joe has always been very open and willing to advice from players, so I think I’d be stupid to go away from that. We’ve got so much experience in this team that it would be silly not to lean on that if I feel like I need some advice.”

^{Stokes will pick England's side with head coach Chris Silverwood}

The talismanic allrounder has put some considerable thought into what the next few days mean to a public starved of their summer sport. Stokes was at the centre of several Sky Sports watchalongs during the main lockdown period – each terrific, full of insight and bathed in golden nostalgia, but still nothing like the real thing.

Professional football has already returned; Southampton’s win over Manchester City on Sunday night raked in 5.7m viewers, making it the most-watched televised Premier League game of all time – a remarkable figure for a fixture that offered little more than two sides with nothing obvious to play for, a nod perhaps to quite how tolerant fans might be at the moment for their dose of live action.

Test cricket will not do the same numbers, and Southampton’s win had the benefit of a free-to-air BBC audience, but Stokes knows the potential impact of these next weeks, with England playing six Tests inside two months and the recreational game finally also given the green light for a resumption this coming Saturday.

“I think it’s massive,” he says. “Not only is cricket back from an international point of view, it’s back from a club cricket side as well. I know everybody has been craving this from a player’s point of view, but I also think from a spectator’s view and a fan’s point of view, this is a massive occasion tomorrow for a lot of people throughout England.

“We know we’ve got that responsibility on our shoulders to go out and do justice for all those people.”

It is why he won’t have concerns around the prospect of a summer of empty stadia used as an excuse. Playing international cricket four months after the curtailed tour of Sri Lanka is motivation enough, especially in a year that was meant to exploit the springboard of 2019’s World Cup glory and Headingley drama.

“I know that there’s not going to be anybody in the crowd to hear or get that energy from, but we know that we’ve got hundreds of thousands of people watching us from around England who want to see us do well,” he stresses.

There is a recognition, too, that there are wider implications to consider as this series finally gets underway. A smooth, successful rollout of elite sport in this Covid-19 environment could have significant repercussions elsewhere across the sporting spectrum.

Likewise, a spate of positive tests inside a bubble put together so meticulously and at such expense could have far-reaching consequences as other sports and tournaments watch on with hope and curiosity.

“If you get one thing wrong, it might blow this whole getting sport back onto the radar of people, it might put that further back,” Stokes knows. “We’re really grateful that we’ve been given this opportunity to be able to get back out on the field, and we’ll be doing everything that we can to make sure that we don’t mess it up.”

^{Stokes has repeatedly confirmed that he will lean on the advice of his senior players}

Typically, of a man so often spoken of for his selflessness, he pays tribute as well to all the support staff who are making this possible – not just England’s physios, analysts and masseurs, but the hotel workers “who have gone out on a limb…to make sure that everything is catered for us”.

As for the cricket itself, England are in a more stable position than when they last faced Jason Holder’s West Indies. For the first time in a considerable while, there is genuine competition at the top of the order; Dom Sibley and Rory Burns will open up, with Zak Crawley, who deputised so efficiently for Burns in South Africa, either batting above or below Joe Denly at No.3 or No.4. James Bracey, who made 85 in the warmup game last week, is on a reserve list.

Dom Bess has been given the nod in the spin department, having fought off valid claims from Jack Leach, Moeen Ali, Matt Parkinson and Amar Virdi, while there is a raft of seamers from which to choose. Somehow, Jofra Archer, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood will have to be whittled down, one suspects, into a group of three. Ollie Robinson, Sam Curran, Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood and Craig Overton are all waiting in the wings of a nine-man reserve party.

By Stokes’ own admission, picking a final playing side has been “a real head-scratcher”.

“But from the bigger picture,” he adds, “it’s a great place to be in as a team. I feel that we’re in a position now with the Test team like we were with the one-day team. I feel as if we’re building towards the Ashes in Australia and also India, so to have the crop of fast bowlers that we now have especially is a great place to be in as a Test side.

“I think if you look at how we are placed now with the team, there is a lot more clarity with everybody. We have an identity as a Test team, whereas in times gone past a few lads might have felt under pressure with guys knocking the door down in a negative way.

“Whereas now, we try to look at that from a positive point of view. There is competition for places in the team and if you’re not performing well as a player, there’s someone who’s right behind you as a player, which is a great place to be at, especially as an international side. I feel we have an identity now as a Test team and for us going forward, it’s about us building on that identity. We have a goal of becoming the best team in the world, so we’re building towards that.”

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