All eyes are on Ben Stokes as the prolific English all-rounder is set to captain the 2019 World Cup champions in the series opener Test of the three-match Test series against the West Indies.
There is a lot of hype surrounding Stokes who has been named captain for the Southampton Test as the regular Test captain Joe Root will miss the series opener to be at the birth of his second child.
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However, Stokes, England’s Test vice-captain, has never led a team at the highest level or even in the first-class cricket, but entire English camp is confident of him doing a great job as captain in Root’s absence and now pacer Mark Wood joined others to back him to do a 'brilliant job' as captain.
Ahead of the much-awaited Test series starting on July 8 at The Ages Bowl – which will mark the return of international cricket after Coronavirus-forced hiatus, England pacer Wood has revealed that he is one of the very few cricketers who had already played under Stokes' captaincy at Durham.
Wood further pointed out that Stokes was a good skipper even then and now he has matured a lot as a senior international cricketer and he is confident that the all-rounder will come out well in the COVID-19 circumstances and do a great job as captain for England against the West Indies.
Wood wrote in his BBC column: “There has been a lot of talk about Stokesy being captain in the first Test, with Joe Root missing out to be at the birth of his second child. I am one of the few people who have actually played under Stokesy, back in our days on the Durham academy.”
He continued, “He was a good skipper back then, leading from the front, just like he does now. As the years have gone on, he has matured into a senior player, setting the example and dragging people along with him. He has a good cricket brain and, even though he does not have much captaincy experience, he will have seasoned players like James Anderson and Stuart Broad around to bounce ideas off.”
Wood signed off by saying, “Stokesy won’t not just tell people what to do. He knows that players are individuals, so he will treat them as such. That said, he is also very honest, so he won’t be afraid to tell it straight if someone is not pulling their weight or sticking to a plan. He will do a brilliant job.”
(With BBC Inputs)
