Joe Root not to name vice-captain ahead of the Ashes

It has been learned that England captain Joe Root will not name his deputy for the all important Ashes series when he gives his farewell press conference at Lord’s on Friday. The England team will fly out to Austalia on 28th October to participate in the Ashes series against Steve Smith-led Australian side. It was earlier reported that the English team will name Root’s deputy before leaving for down-under.

Ben Stokes, the current England Test vice-captain, has been suspended following the incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September, when he was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm, and will not travel to Australia.

Police has not passed on any word on Stokes’ case to the ECB and therefore it is very much on hold for now. Former England captain Alastair Cook might well get to lead the visiting side if Root has to leave the field in case of an injury or rest in the practice matches. The action will start at the Gabba, in Brisbane and the Australians are yet to finalize on their no.6 slot.

Sheffield Shield outing

Australia’s opener Matt Renshaw made just 17 runs while Usman Khawaja scored 40 for Queensland on the first day of the Sheffield Shield season. Shaun Marsh and Hilton Cartwright made solid contributions whereas Marcus Stoinis failed to reach double digits during the match between Western Australia and Tasmania in Perth.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan believes that Root will have to convince his bunch of boys that they can very well win the Ashes.“You know they will have a bit of magic in them, so can Joe convince his players to play a style of cricket over a period to win? He has to make sure they are consistently playing at a level to take the game into days four and five.” Vaughan said.