The Ashes: England vice-captain to be appointed ahead of first Test, confirms Joe Root

Ben Stokes, the Test vice-captain, is missing from this tour following the late-night incident in Bristol two months ago

Chris Stocks
Perth
Thursday 02 November 2017 19:18 GMT
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Joe Root during an England nets session in Perth
Joe Root during an England nets session in Perth

England captain Joe Root has confirmed that a temporary deputy will be appointed to serve under him before the first Ashes Test starts in Brisbane on 23 November.

Ben Stokes, the Test vice-captain, is missing from this tour following the late-night incident in Bristol during the one-day series against West Indies in September that sees him still the subject of an ongoing police investigation.

The tourists have yet to name a replacement for the vice-captaincy this winter but Root, speaking ahead of England’s opening tour match against a Western Australia XI that starts at the WACA on Saturday, confirmed one will be named ahead of the start of the series at the Gabba.

Alastair Cook, Root’s predecessor in the role, and Stuart Broad, England’s Twenty20 captain between 2011 and 2014, are the frontrunners to take on the job.

And given Stokes could be stripped of the role when he faces disciplinary action from the England & Wales Cricket Board following the conclusion of the police investigation, any appointment made here in Australia could eventually become permanent.

“Over next few days, myself and the management will have a chat and it will be sorted by the First Test,” Root said of the vice-captaincy. “I don’t think it makes a massive difference to me on the field. I have some senior players around me who have been fantastic throughout the summer.

“It is a side that is always wanting to help each other out, which is a great environment to work in. Players are thinking about the game, looking to drive it forward themselves and take responsibility. It is a joy to captain them.”

Root wants his men to hit the ground running Down Under 

Root is looking for his team to be ruthless right from the start of this Ashes tour.

Despite the fact Moeen Ali and Steven Finn have both been ruled out of this weekend’s opening warm-up match with respective side and knee injuries, Root wants his side to hit the ground running.

When England last won an away Ashes series in 2010/11, the key to success was treating their tour matches as if they were Tests. That team, led by Andrew Strauss, went on to beat Australia 3-1.

Even though this first of three warm-up matches will only be played over two days, Root says England will play a team as close to their Ashes XI as possible as they attempt to make a positive start to their campaign.

“We want to be as ruthless as we can and start the tour as we mean to go on,” said Root.

Root said he is looking forward to captaining overseas for the first time 

“Everyone is excited, you can see there is a desire and hunger.

“Obviously, we want to give guys the opportunity to play in the middle when those chances arise but at the same time not at the expense of losing and not being at our best. We’ll have the attitude of trying to win the game even though it is a two-dayer.”

Cricket Australia today named a young and inexperienced squad to face England in their final two pre-Ashes tour matches in Adelaide and Townsville.

Among the 12-man squad only 32-year-old wicketkeeper Tim Paine and fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu have international experience.

Alastair Cook could take on the England vice-captaincy 

But Root said: "I think it is irrelevant, you can only play what is put up against you. When we turn up to those games, it is about making sure we apply ourselves and get what we want out of them by trying to win and getting into the habit of winning early in the tour so when the Tests come around we have belief from what we have done in the warm-up games.”

Root is also looking forward to captaining overseas for the first time having only taken over the England job from Cook last summer.

He said: “It’s important I use these three games to get a good feel for captaining overseas, how we are going to utilise the conditions, making sure we have clear plans for their batters and we are as prepared as possible and give ourselves the best opportunity to break their side down.

“There are a lot of new things and these three games are an opportunity to get us off to a great start – get guys into form and for me, as captain, to get a feel for how cricket is played in these conditions."

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