'In emergency, break glass' - England seek stability in Root

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Ben Stokes and Joe Root won a Test in Australia together for the first time in December

From meeting as teenagers, Root and Stokes have been together for every significant moment in English cricket in the past decade and more.

The implosion of a team during the 5-0 Ashes drubbing in 2013-14, and the rebuild to regain the urn in 2015 - the last time England beat Australia.

The 2019 World Cup and Stokes' Headingley miracle of the same year. Covid and Bazball. Winning as darkness fell in Rawalpindi and losing by one run in Wellington. The Jonny Bairstow stumping and the Heist of Hyderabad. The latest Ashes debacle.

They have been there for each other, too. Stokes' peak was under Root's captaincy, so too was the Bristol incident that almost cost the all-rounder his career.

There was an emotional phone call between the two in the summer of 2021, when Stokes took a break from the game. A year later, when Root relinquished the captaincy, Stokes was there with what he called "love, respect and support".

England have described the arrangement for the second Test as "interim", and its impermanence seems important.

On Monday, when it first emerged that Stokes and Gus Atkinson were in hot water, there was an immediate feeling it would spell the end of Stokes' captaincy.

It still may. There is an ongoing investigation. Stokes could decide to walk.

But, with every passing hour, the temperature is cooling. Stokes could return for the third Test at Trent Bridge or, more likely, the series against Pakistan later in the summer.

Still, Stokes has given a window into what England's life might be without him. For the first time in his career, Stokes the cricketer is not indispensable. Earlier this week, head coach Brendon McCullum had to defend his batting, and back Stokes to return to form.

If Brook had been put in charge, England may have seen something they like. Brook and McCullum seemed more aligned during the T20 World Cup than Stokes and McCullum did during the Ashes.

Brook would have been captaining his peers, whereas Stokes leads a group of younger men, many of whom grew up idolising him. Maybe England would have found a Stokesless formation that makes them stronger: the leg-spin of Rehan Ahmed as the all-rounder, followed by four specialist seamers.

None of this becomes an issue with Root in charge. He will be all too happy to hand over the reins when the time comes.

These roles were once reversed. In the Covid summer of 2021, Stokes stepped in for one Test while Root was on paternity leave. Root left a note on Stokes' peg in the dressing room which said: "Do it your way".

Now, Root will do it his way. Clapping his hands from first slip, long sprints to talk to his bowlers. A smile on his face, maybe a classic Rootian century. Not the puffed-out chest of an alpha like Stokes, just the calm reassurance of English cricket's most dependable presence.

Once again, it is Joe Root riding to England's rescue.