BEN STOKES is set to captain England for the first time next week.
Regular skipper Joe Root looks certain to miss the First Test against the West Indies after the birth of his second child.
Hailing Stokes, team-mate Stuart Broad said: “I’ve no doubt he will be brilliant at captaining England for this one-off Test match — or two Test matches.
“Stokesy just has a really good cricket brain. He’s someone who’s matured incredibly over the last three or four years.”
Ashes and World Cup hero Stokes has not captained a side since leading Durham’s academy in 2008.
Last year Root’s vice-captain admitted he had no ambition to lead his country because of fears about his workload.
But fast bowler Broad added: “To come in and captain one game, he’ll find that very easy.
“I don’t think there will be much stress or pressure on him.
“He’s taking over Rooty’s team to make on-field decisions, so I don’t think he’ll struggle.”
Root’s wife, Carrie, is due to give birth to their second child, and has been booked in for a C-section in Sheffield over the next few days. But with Covid-19 protocols dictating that Root would have to self-isolate for a week even after leaving hospital, his chances of walking out at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl on July 8 are remote.
His absence will end an unbroken sequence of 77 Tests since he returned to the team in 2014 following his dropping at Sydney in January that year. Only Alastair Cook, who played a world-record 159 in a row, has appeared in more consecutive Tests for England
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