England’s new captain is demanding where Joe Root was biddable and has the strength to lift a lifeless red-ball team
The appointment of Ben Stokes as the England men’s Test captain was always going to generate a little heat. The patient may be sickly. The team – and indeed Test cricket itself, which has been dying since the day it was born – may be twitching on its gurney, breath coming in a rasp. But for now this feels like a shot of adrenaline to the chest.
The optics are good. The captaincy adjectives are bracing and terse. Sports writers already love Stokes because he makes that stage feel epic. Broadcasters have a tendency to turn husky and brave in his presence. And on a basic level Stokes is just such a likable, moreish figure.
