Stokes expresses pride at leading England despite defeat to Windies

Ben Stokes will hand back the Englandcaptaincywithplenty of pride and no regrets despite comingupshortagainstadefiantWestIndiessideinthefirst Test at the Ageas Bowl.

Stokes was leading his country for the first time, deputising for Joe Root who was absent due to the birth of his second child. The Yorkshireman will return to a 1-0 deficit in the #raisethebat Series when he joins up with the squad in Manchester this week.NearlyeverythingStokes touched in 2019 turned to gold but he presided over a fourwicket defeat after Jermaine Blackwood’smatch-winning95 did the heavy lifting in a fifthday chase of 200.

Arguably his two biggest calls as skipper came before a ball had been bowled, omitting Stuart Broad in home conditions for the first time in eight years in a bid to harness theextraspeedofJofraArcher and Mark Wood, and the subsequent call to bat first under heavy cloud cover.

Both continued to attract scrutiny after stumps were pulled, but Stokes was resolute as he reflected on his time at the helm.

“I’ve really enjoyed the responsibilityofleadingtheteam and making decisions. We lost but I’m not going to look back with any regrets,” he said.

“Itdidn’tchangemeasplayer whatsoever with the bat in my hand or when I had the ball in my hand. I’ll be able to look back on this disappointed not to win but able to say that I’ve captained England.

“The message I delivered to everybodyisthatyouleaveeverythingoutonthatfield,forthe badge and the number under your badge, and I’m proud of each and everyone one of the ladsoutthere.IcanseewhyJoe loses a lot of sleep because he’s gottodothateverygame.Obviously next week I don’t need to make any of the decisions, so good luck Joe.”

Broad gave a refreshingly honest assessment of his dropping in a Sky Sports appearance midway through the game, telling viewers he was “frustrated, gutted and angry”, but rather than bristling at the segment Stokes was impressed. “Looking at the interview he gave I thought it was absolutely brilliant. To see the desire and passion that he showed and the answers that he gave, to still see that fire burning deep inside was fantastic. He is nowhere near done and if he plays in that secondTestmatchIreallyhopehe walks off that field with a bit of an ‘Up you’. But we made a decision based around thinking pace was going to stand us a better place in the long game.”