Ben Stokes says England players '100 per cent' behind captain Joe Root after slump in form

Loyal to the skipper: Ben Stokes insists the whole England camp support Joe Root as captain
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Ben Stokes says Joe Root remains the right man to lead England and that he has the full backing of players and staff to continue in the role.

Root’s position as captain has been questioned after England were thumped in the opening Test against New Zealand, losing by an innings and 65 runs, while his form with the bat has slumped, the player averaging just 27.4 in 10 Tests in 2019.

But Stokes insisted: “Joe knows that he’s got the backing of everybody in the changing room: players, backroom staff and management. That’s the main thing that counts for us as players in a very tight-knit group.

“He knows everybody in that changing room 100 per cent backs him, as I do. He’s fine. He’s Joe Root. He is England captain and there’s no one else to do it.”

Stokes, who has now leapfrogged Root as England’s leading Test batsman in the world rankings, moving to ninth while his colleague has fallen to 11th, said he and his team-mates needed to take a share of the blame for the poor showing in the opening Test.

“The pressure of being England Test captain is huge,” he said. “It can be one of the most criticised jobs in England and sometimes that criticism is unfair. There are 11 guys that contribute to a win or loss. It doesn’t all fall on the captain.

“We put our hands up as players when we don’t perform. But unfortunately Joe cops most of that. But as a playing group, we stick together and we hold our hands up together as well.”

England have a chance to make amends in Hamilton from 10pm on Thursday night in the Second Test against a side without Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme, who have been ruled out after picking up injuries.

Meanwhile, a joint investigation by the ECB and New Zealand Cricket remains ongoing into the racist abuse that Jofra Archer suffered in that match.

Of the incident, the England paceman wrote in his Daily Mail column on Wednesday: “The first thing I want to say about what happened towards the end of the Test at Mount Maunganui is that I’m over it.

“I’ve left what happened at the ground and I’ve moved on. I should also say that it was just one person who was shouting off. But I found the incident a real shame. If someone wants to shout at me and tell me I’m bowling badly, that’s fine.

"To hear racism, though, that’s another matter. There is no time or place for it in any walk of life, let alone cricket. It’s just not called for.”

Stokes revealed that England’s players had rallied round Archer following the racist abuse going into the Hamilton match. Stokes, who was born in Christchurch, said: “It wasn’t a nice way to end the Test and it’s a shame because that doesn’t represent what New Zealand is about as a country whatsoever.

“The main thing for us now is making Jofra aware that we’ve got his back. It was a pretty horrific incident and something that shouldn’t happen in sport or in the world in general in 2019.”

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