Arnos vale, Cemetery in Bristol, England

Southampton, July 5 England cricketer Zak Crawley gave his backing to all-rounder Ben Stokes who will be captaining the Test side for the first time in the first match of the #raisethebat Test against West Indies starting July 8 at the Ageas Bowl.Stokes was named the skipper after regular captain Joe Root returned to Sheffield for the birth of his second child. Root is likely to rejoin the squad and lead in the final two matches at Old Trafford.Crawley believes Stokes is a very experienced player now and he will have no problems with dealing with the pressure that captaincy brings along with it."He (Stokes) will be very good. He is already a big leader in the team. So he is not going to have any problems leading in his first Test match," Crawley said during a video interview with Sky Sports."He has played a lot of cricket and is a very experienced player. I think he is going to be a very good captain," he added.Earlier, former England captain Nasser Hussain had also backed Stokes to lead from the front in the first Windies Test. He had, however, expressed his concerns regarding handing over the armband to Stokes on a permanent basis."Generally, what Ben does is a bit like Virat," Hussain said on the Star Sports show Cricket Connected. "Everything he does, he does it at 100 miles an hour. So, I think he will be an excellent captain, he's only a stand-in captain. Joe Root is off with that baby, his second child."I think as a stand-in captain, I am absolutely behind it, absolutely great choice, very loyal as well to Joe Root. He won't have any kind of grandeur thinking that this is my job for life.""But as a long-term thing - all-rounder with so much on his plate, plays three formats, IPL possibly coming up - I think there's too much on his shoulders, but never write-off Ben Stokes."He could make an exceptional captain, but I am worried a little bit about his workload in the future if he does it full time," Hussain added.( With inputs from IANS )

Arnos ValeFOLLOW

Arnos vale, Latest News

After a hiatus of 116 days, rain further delayed the start of international cricket and now an early lunch (5 pm IST) will be taken in the first Test between England and West Indies here at the Ageas Bowl. ...

After a hiatus of 116 days, international cricket will be resuming today as England and West Indies lock horns in a three-match Test series. ...

London, July 7 Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has picked veteran pacer James Anderson to be in the ... ...

London, July 7 West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has said that the battle between Jason Holder and ... ...

London, July 6 England batsman Ollie Pope has admitted that there were times when he felt it would be ... ...

London, July 6 Former England captain Nasser Hussain feels veteran pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad deserve to ... ...

Kolkata, July 5 West Indies pace spearhead Kemar Roach feels they will have a little bit of an ... ...

Southampton, July 5 England cricketer Zak Crawley gave his backing to all-rounder Ben Stokes who will be captaining ... ...