Ben Stokes was overjoyed to see Joe Root guide England to victory against New Zealand at Lord’s yesterday.
Root resigned the captaincy in April, and says he had developed “an unhealthy relationship” with it. His 115 not out took him past 10,000 Test runs and gave England victory in Stokes’ first game in charge.
Stokes said of his friend: “To see him walk off there, leading the team to victory, seeing the emotion of pure joy and happiness in his first game after stepping down as captain was amazing.
“We are very close, we’re not just work colleagues. As emotional as it was for him, it was fantastic for me to see a very close friend walk off after leading England to victory. It was a great day.”
The series continues at Trent Bridge on Friday. England reassemble in Nottingham on Wednesday. Before then, Harry Brook will play for Yorkshire tonight and Matt Parkinson, who made his debut as a concussion substitute at Lord’s, for Lancashire tomorrow evening in the Vitality Blast.
Parkinson was retained in England’s squad for the second Test with Jack Leach unlikely to be available due to concussion. He is only able to return to training on Thursday, making Somerset’s meeting with Surrey on Sunday a more likely fixture to appear in.
New Zealand are set to be without Colin de Grandhomme with a heel injury, and could bring in Matt Henry and Neil Wagner.
Meanwhile, England’s new white-ball coach Matthew Mott arrives in the country later on Monday, ahead of his first assignment, an ODI series against the Netherlands next week.
