LONDON: England captain Joe Root has said he would miss the first home Test match against the West Indies in July if it clashes with the birth of his child, but backed vice-captain Ben Stokes to take the reins in his absence.

The West Indies’ tour of England, which was pushed back by a month due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to begin on July 8 in Southampton behind closed doors, subject to government approval.

However, Root’s wife Carrie is due to give birth to their second child in early July and the top order batsman said he is in discussions over whether he would be able to leave the on-site hotel and return to the bio-secure venue.

“The due date complicates things slightly. In terms of the bubble and the pregnancy, it’s always an evolving thing,” Root told reporters. “It’s being discussed with the medical team and we’re always trying to stay updated with it. How it will finally look I’m not exactly sure right now.

“It will have to come down to government guidelines and we have to make sure we follow those protocols and do whatever is right by that.”

Root said Stokes would make a ‘fantastic’ captain in his absence as the all-rounder leads by example.

“One of his great qualities as vice-captain is the example he sets — the way he goes about his training, how he wants the ball in difficult circumstances, the way he stands up in difficult scenarios with the bat,” Root added. “He drags people with him, gets the best out of players around him and gives the whole team a lift. People will always follow him, look up to him and want to play for him whether he is captain or not.

“Those are great qualities to have as leader and something he could definitely take into captaincy. I love having him as vice-captain and could see him doing a very good job as captain.”

Stokes was restored to the England vice-captaincy after missing the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia, before being acquitted on an affray charge following an incident outside a nightclub.

Since then he has played a starring role during England’s triumphant World Cup campaign and scored a stupendous unbeaten Test hundred as England beat Australia at Headingley last year.

Although England want to keep their squad in a secure ‘bubble’ to prevent the spread of Covid-19, they have said players will be allowed to spend time between matches with their families.

The ECB confirmed the revised dates for the West Indies series on Tuesday and Root said it would be a huge boost for the game even if they are behind closed doors.

“It must be extremely scary and I think the whole cricketing world will be grateful to see some cricket again,” he said.

Root was back in the nets for the first time this season on Monday, working with former England coach Peter Moores at Trent Bridge.

“There are obviously a lot of protocols put in place, but it wasn’t too dissimilar to how you would normally go about a net session,” said Root. “To start with, everything seems a million miles an hour. Slowly, as a few hours went on, it seemed to come back to me. By the end of it, I felt really good.”

And Root said his enforced break from cricket had allowed him time to think about his game both as a captain and a batsman.

He said he felt refreshed as he aims to improve on a record of 48 Test fifties but only 17 hundreds.

“Hopefully that has a positive impact on both sides of my cricket and we can start seeing a few more converted scores and England winning plenty of games,” he added.

England fast bowler Jofra Archer has suggested crowd noise is pumped into grounds to compensate for the lack of fans at the matches.

“It depends if they’re saying I should be sacked in the morning,” joked Root. “But a few Barmy Army chants a couple of times a session would be nice. If we need a wicket or something, I’m sure the lads would appreciate that.”

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2020