England coach Chris Silverwood has faith in ‘talisman’ Ben Stokes

Root’s wife Carrie is due to give birth later this week and, with the strict protocols in place to ensure the series takes place in a ‘bio-secure’ environment, he will need to be isolated from the group for at least a week on his return from hospital.

That means the rubberstamping of Stokes’s temporary promotion at the Ageas Bowl next week, having never before taken the reins in his professional career.

The team’s star all-rounder will not have to wait long for a chance to hone his skills, heading up one of the sides in a three-day internal squad match starting in Southampton on Wednesday.

With Root heading north to join his family in Sheffield, Jos Buttler will captain the other in a game that sees 27 of the country’s best red-ball players go head to head. Buttler will also serve as Stokes’s vice-captain in the first Test, reprising his long-term role under Eoin Morgan in the limited-overs side and one he has previously performed in support of Root.

Head coach Chris Silverwood has no qualms about his credentials, despite his own admission that he last led a team as a teenager in the Durham academy.

“I think he’ll do a great job. He is a talisman, he leads from the front anyway,” said Silverwood.

“It will be interesting to see what he does because obviously it is his first time captaining England.

“We know he has got an aggressive nature but equally there is a good cricket brain in there as well.

“I think he will be quite vocal about what moves he is making when he is out there and I’m looking forward to working with him from a coaching point of view.

“He’s been Rooty’s right-hand man for a while now. I know Rooty does turn to him a lot and he’s been involved in a lot of talks we have behind the scenes. He’s in a great place to pick up the reins.”

Stokes has asked for – and been granted – a voice in the final team selection, though the bulk of the team’s established pecking order should remain intact.

Among the positions that are still to be tussled over during a rare ‘England versus England’ clash – namely Root’s replacement at number four, the first-choice spinner and which fast bowlers make the XI.

The likeliest top-order options are split equally between the two sides, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley on one, with Rory Burns and Joe Denly in the other, while Dan Lawrence and Jonny Bairstow are each pencilled in to Root’s usual spot.

Editor’s note: First and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you. James Mitchinson, Editor