STOKES FORCES ROOT INTO EXILE

JOE ROOT admitted he had no chance of being picked for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred ahead of England team-mate Ben Stokes.

Root (right) has been forced away from his Headingley home and will play for the Trent Rockets in Nottingham while Jonny Bairstow will be the star turn for the Welsh Fire in Cardiff next summer.

“It will be a little bit strange playing for a team based outside of Yorkshire because I’ve never had to think about signing for anyone else in domestic cricket,” said Root. “But I’m excited to be involved at Trent Bridge. It is a great ground, a fantastic wicket, with some nice small boundaries.

“And I’ve got a bit of history there too with my dad playing for the colts and the second team, plus my brother Bill also played there.

“Anyone who had Stokesy at their disposal on the back of this summer was on to a winner.

“It doesn’t matter if you were Virat Kohli, you would have struggled to get first pick above him. And it will be great to see him back at Headingley where he will have fond memories.”

Each of the new eight teams picked a Test contracted player plus two icons of the game.

World Cup winners Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy were among those snapped up for the tournament, which runs from July 17 to August 16. Birmingham Phoenix: Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Pat Brown. London Spirit: Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Eoin Morgan. Manchester Originals: Jos Buttler, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson. Northern Superchargers: Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey. Oval Invincibles: Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Jason Roy. Southern Brave: Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, James Vince. Trent Rockets: Joe Root, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales. Welsh Fire: Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Colin Ingram.