Root stops the England captaincy gap ... but for how long?

Joe Root has captained England in 64 previous Tests. on Wednesday will lead them in an "interim" role for the first time. The designation begs more questions than it answers: how long will it last? Is he deputising for Ben Stokes, or preparing a handover to Harry Brook? And is there any world where this arrangement lasts beyond the end of this series?

None of these questions have been answered directly by England's management in the past week. who have been purposefully vague on Stokes' future while two disciplinary processes - one run internally by England, the other by the Cricket Regulator - play out. Rob Key, Brendon McCullum, and now Root himself have taken turns to dead-bat leading questions.

Even still. it is clearly notable that none of the three have offered any assurances that Stokes will play for England again. Root's best effort on Tuesday was to insist that Stokes has "the respect of everyone in our dressing-room". he declined to comment on whether he would like to see him return as captain, deferring instead to "people that are in a slightly different job".

Root said that he had spoken privately with Stokes in recent days,. described their chats as "privileged conversations" which should "stay between us". His answers, like McCullum's on Monday, seemed designed to defer speculation on Stokes' future as much as possible but only added to the sense of uncertainty around his mental state. desire to return.

Perhaps Root's most telling answer came when he described the effect that five years as captain. from 2017 to 2022, had on his own mental wellbeing. "I found I ended up being so consumed with everything. I wasn't the person I wanted to be," he said. "It was the right time to step away, not just because our performances weren't where they needed to be."

England's results in the final days of Root's captaincy. one win in 17 Tests, were far worse than they have been under Stokes, exacerbated by the challenges of Covid restrictions. Yet his description of his final days in the job felt almost like a description of Stokes'. whose manner throughout the Test-match week at Lord's had seemed off, long before his long drinking session on Sunday afternoon.

While the prospect of Stokes resigning as captain. or perhaps even retiring altogether, has reduced since last week, neither McCullum, Key or even Root has ruled out the possibility that he has led England for the final time, whether by choice or otherwise. Whatever happens this week. it is hard to see him returning in time for the third Test at Trent Bridge next Thursday.

Root described his return to the captaincy as being on a "game-by-game basis", but did not rule out the notion that it could last longer than this series: "The only thinking that came to my mind is, 'What is the best thing for the team?' and, 'Is it going to have a big effect on me. my personal life?' and which outweighed the other… It felt like it was the right thing to take this on."

It leaves open an option that would have seemed impossible even a week ago: that if Stokes does not return to the captaincy. Root could take it back on a short-term basis. It would only be a temporary arrangement but, providing that England win this series. Root does not feel his own form suffers, it could even last as far as next summer's home Ashes series.

Key. McCullum have both made clear that Brook's snub is not only a question of optics after his late-night antics in Wellington last year, but also his maturity and his workload as both white-ball captain and an all-format player. "We felt Joe was the right man to do this job at this point in time," McCullum said. "Harry, to his credit, admitted that that was the case too."

Root said that he would lean heavily on Brook's "brilliant cricket brain" in the slip cordon this week - in the same way that Pat Cummins often leans on Steven Smith -. they would make sense as a joint-ticket: Root, the public face of the operation, rebuilding the team's culture, with Brook empowered as vice-captain to leave his tactical mark on the game.

It would enable Brook to take England to the 2027 50-over World Cup as white-ball captain without giving him the unenviable task of leading across formats. an unprecedented challenge in the three-format era. After just over a year in interim charge. Root could then hand the Test captaincy to Brook for the 2027-28 winter, with Jacob Bethell taking over the white-ball teams.

Root has shown no interest in captaincy over the past four years. has been a perfect senior player for Stokes. He bought into England's new identity immediately. wholeheartedly, and has churned out runs, averaging 54.90 in the last four years with 16 hundreds. It has been an admirable return to the ranks after five years in charge.

But he is clearly in a much healthier, happier spot than he was four years ago. "In a small way - in a good way - I was slightly envious of. opportunity to work with someone like Baz in this sort of capacity," he said. "It has been really cool… I'm a very different player. have a different way of looking at the game than probably the last time I captained, in a good way."

The next two weeks will provide a much clearer insight into whether Root is a viable short-term option in the event that Stokes does not return to the captaincy,. results will clearly be vital. But if Root can lead a young. inexperienced team to a series win with Brook at his side, then perhaps this arrangement could become something more than just a stop-gap.