Root having ‘such fun’ as Stokes salutes ‘pretty special start’

Joe
Root
was
replaced
as
skipper
by
Ben
Stokes
ahead
of
the
series
but
maintained
a
key
role
against
the
Black
Caps
and
was
named
England’s
player
of
the
series.

Relentless
England
race
to
series
whitewash
in
entertaining
start
to
new
era

He
was
far
from
alone
in
standing
out,
though,
and
far
from
alone
in
enjoying
himself,
as
England
became
the
first
Test
team
to
chase
down
250
three
times
in
a
single
series.

The
third
win
was
completed
at
a
canter
on
day
five
at
Headingley,
with
Root
joined
in
the
middle
by
the
destructive
Jonny
Bairstow,
illustrating
a
complete
shift
from
what
had
gone
before.

Prior
to
Root
–
the
world’s
top-ranked
batsman
–
giving
up
the
captaincy,
England
had
just
one
win
in
17
Tests.

“One
of
the
great
things
about
this
series
was
guys
keep
getting
more
and
more
confident,
more
and
more
at
ease
with
how
they
want
to
go
about
things,”
Root
said.

“It’s
such
fun
to
play
in
and
be
part
of.
For
Ben
to
start
as
he
has
under
Brendon
[McCullum,
the
new
head
coach]
as
well,
we’re
all
loving
playing
it;
it’s
great.

“It’s
important
that
we
enjoy
this
series
win.
It
has
been
a
rocky
road
for
the
Test
team
for
a
little
while
now,
and
if
you
can’t
enjoy
a
series
like
this,
then
what
do
you
play
for?”

The
hometown
boys

What
a
series
for
these
two

@Root66
@JBairstow21
pic.twitter.com/FGeAZoBjFP

—
England
Cricket
(@englandcricket)

June
27,
2022

Those
words
would
be
music
to
Stokes’ ears,
with
results
secondary
to
the
enjoyment
of
his
team,
he
says.

“For
me,
when
I
took
over
this
job,
it
was
more
than
results;
it
was
about
changing
the
mindset
of
the
lads
towards
Test
cricket,
about
having
fun
and
enjoying
the
fact
you’re
out
there
representing
your
country,
and
the
results
will
look
after
themselves,”
Stokes
said.

“But
to
say
that
we
have
done
it
so
quickly
is
just
unbelievable.

“I
can
only
do
so
much;
I’ve
got
to
show
a
huge
amount
of
credit
to
Brendon
and
the
way
that
he’s
came
in
and
influenced
this
group
as
well,
the
backroom
staff
and
everyone
else
who’s
played
a
part
in
the
series
as
well
–
it’s
been
absolutely
phenomenal.”

Stokes
described
this
series
as
“a
pretty
special
start”
and
picked
out
the
third
Test
as
his
highlight,
impressed
England
did
not
“come
back
into
our
shell”
when
they
were
55-6
in
their
first
innings.

Those
bad
habits
have
been
forgotten,
it
seems,
and
Root
was
not
interested
in
reflecting
on
what
had
gone
wrong
during
his
tenure.

“I
think
we
should
leave
what’s
happened
where
it
is,”
he
said.
“I
think
we
should
concentrate
on
looking
at
what
this
team
has
done
over
the
last
few
weeks.

“What
Ben’s
done
has
been
brilliant
in
these
three
games,
and
I’m
sure
he’ll
have
a
plan
for
the
next
series
and
this
game
against
India
as
well.

“As
I
say,
I’m
absolutely
loving
being
a
part
of
it
all
at
the
moment.
Long
may
it
continue.”

That
India
match
concludes
a
series
that
was
started
last
year
with
Root
at
the
helm,
but
Stokes
intends
to
attack
it
in
the
same
manner
England
did
world
Test
champions
New
Zealand.

The
new
skipper
added:
“It’s
obviously
completely
different
opposition
and
we’ve
still
got
a
series
to
try
to
draw,
but
we’ll
be
thinking
about
us,
and
trust
me
when
I
say
this:
we’ll
be
coming
out
with
exactly
the
same
mindset.”