NICK HOWSON: Clarifying James Anderson and Stuart Broad's position, get winning again and making a strong stance on red-ball cricket are among the priorities for the incoming Test skipper
Notwithstanding the standard of opponent, the difficulty of conditions they have encountered and the transition going on around him, Joe Root signed off as England Test captain with one win in the last 17 and five consecutive series without a victory.
For all the records Root broke, this is ultimately a group of players at an extremely low ebb, languishing at the bottom of the World Test Championship and fifth in the ICC rankings. If claiming victory is a welcome habit, this team have developed an unwanted one in losing 11 times over the last 13 months.
But developing that winning mentality will be anything but an easy task. The reigning WTC winners arrive for three Tests in June, having beaten England 1-0 a year ago and then trumped India at The Ageas Bowl.
The postponed fifth Test against India is set for July at Edgbaston before an improving South African side are the opponents in three Tests in August and September.
While there aren't necessarily any givens in Test cricket, Stokes is faced with three formidable opponents who will be comfortable in English conditions and will be smelling blood.
Any honeymoon period, or new captain bounce, may have to wait.
England need that winning feeling back (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Much of Root's tenure saw him the victim of English cricket becoming white-ball focused.
Whether it be the attention on the home World Cup in 2019, the push of LV= Insurance County Championship matches into the fringes of the season and priority given to limited-overs cricket, freedom for players to play in the Indian Premier League or him being deprived of star names for high-profile series, Root was constantly battling against the tide.
Indeed, it was reported prior to the West Indies Tests that the Yorkshireman had issued an ultimatum regarding the role of the first-class game and that it return as the No.1 format.
Stokes must pick up the baton, not just for the sake of England but the wider game. Virat Kohli's exit as India Test skipper was significant not just because of his profile, but due to his belief in the five-day format.
In April 2020, he encouragingly said: "It’s where you find out what you’re really about as a cricketer and for me it is the purest form of the sport. It has to stay around, it would be a sad, sad day if Test cricket was changed."
Root was never involved in conversations regarding the structure of the domestic calendar. He is no administrator, and managing director of county cricket Neil Snowball does an admirable job given the number of plates he must continually keep spinning, but it seems slightly perplexing that the England Test captain isn't at least part of the process.
Though the Durham allrounder has benefitted from contracts in the IPL in the past, it is widely accepted Ashley Giles gave the players too much influence as far as their participation in the competition, which encroaches on the first two months of the campaign, is concerned. It is not within Stokes' remit to change how the competition is treated, but he can certainly be influential.
It is fair to observe that many players did, however, skip the 2022 tournament in an attempt to manage their schedule - only Jonny Bairstow has travelled from the Windies Test squad.
By the end of his tenure, Root had become exacerbated by the preferential treatment the limited-overs teams had been given, which crucially impinged on the availability of his star players. The India tour in particular, while designed to manage the workload of players, was farcical in the manner in which it was handled.
A demand that has several strands too it also has another problem. There is another T20 World Cup later this year, with the defence of England's 50-over crown coming in 2023 in India. While many nations find it easy for the three formats to co-exist, that has proven problematic in England and cannot be achieved overnight.
Joe Root was a big supporter of Test cricket (Randy Brooks/Getty Images)
How the leadership impacts Stokes' on-field performance is perhaps the most intriguing question heading into his spell as captain.
It almost goes without saying this is not a side that can afford a drop-off in performance from their No.1 player.
For every great player inspired by the responsibility - Graeme Smith or Garfield Sobers - there are those unable to strike the right balance. Ian Botham comes immediately to mind.
Among the main reasons why there was a degree of hesitancy over Stokes' adequacy for the captaincy centred around how it might have a knock-on effect on his position as one of the premier allrounders on the planet and England's most vital players.
Speaking to BBC Sport, David Gower said: "If you add extra responsibilities on top of everything else they're expected to do is it going to be a step too far?
"It is a big role, it always has been, and you need broad shoulders to cope with it."
Though he won't open like Alastair Cook or take the new ball al la Bob Willis, there has so often been the need to bat England out of trouble or to victory, and bowl tirelessly on flat pitches. For all the brilliance of Headingley, games like those will eventually break him.
It is with the ball where there should be the most concern. In the Caribbean - a series he started half-fit - he bowled more overs than any seamer and came home with a knee injury he continues to nurse. The Ashes saw him battle with side and knee issues yet still managed 63.3 overs.
Indeed, since he made his Test debut in Adelaide in 2013, Stuart Broad and James Anderson are the only England quicks to deliver more balls. Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Mohammed Shami and Suranga Lakmal are the only others across world cricket.
The saying goes that captains will typically under bowl themselves. The 24.2 overs he delivered on his only other outing as Test skipper was an indication that may continue, but that is an inadequate sample size. It remains to be seen how he manages that aspect of his game and yet ensures England get his best.
The same goes for his batting. With Bairstow and Ben Foakes below him, it might be prudent to drop down a place, particularly with no sign of England's issues at the top suddenly being solved. His record at No.6, where he has batted in 76 of his 146 Test innings reads 2,741 runs at 36.54.
This might all sound rather negative and pragmatic, but if Stokes is indeed the inspirational leader we believe him to be, it would be sensible to try and protect him, if nothing else, from himself.
Stokes crashes through the covers (Randy Brooks/Getty Images)
As Gower eludes to, Stokes will have no lack of support in the role even if, ultimately, he is accountable for many of the decisions taken and results on the field.
While others - Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley, Alex Lees and Foakes - are still learning about the format, Stokes, as is the intention, will have three players with more than a century of Tests under their belt to call on.
With their talents with the ball needing no introduction, Anderson and Broad's recalls can't come soon enough in that regard. What they haven't seen in international cricket is hardly worth knowing.
And then there is England's most successful Test captain Root, who is ready to share his experience. The way both players have lavished praise on one another suggests they'll be close confidants this summer and beyond.
Stokes is used to having plenty on his shoulders, but how he delegates, seeks ideas from others regarding fields, plans and tactics, and is democratic about decisions will define his longevity.
Stokes will be surrounded by a wealth of experience (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
"I absolutely do not believe that the health of our game should be judged by our success against one nation, albeit they are our keenest rivals," wrote Paul Edwards in a recent column for The Cricketer.
Ever since the 2005 Ashes, when England stunned an all-conquering Australia team led by Ricky Ponting, capturing the attention of the nation, meeting with the old enemy have swelled in importance. It was of primary concern prior, but it was catapulted in significance thereafter.
England vs Australia is a tribal rivalry that pierces the mainstream, with the drama and verbal barbs helping it to be built up like a heavyweight boxing fight.
But it has started to eat everything around it. Everything is Ashes. The remainder of England's schedule feels like an appetizer; nice, but not what everyone has come for. And more importantly, it is the measure by which the whole sport is judged against. Andrew Strauss' all-game review and Root's desire for a red-ball reset are not the first of their kind and you guarantee another in four years' time if the outcome repeats itself.
While it would be unfair to allow the 4-0 defeat to Australia last winter to define Root's tenure as captain, he only has himself to blame if it becomes a lasting memory.
From the moment England denied Australia a series win in 2019 at The Oval, all the talk in the 26 months that followed was about blueprints, philosophies and a battery of fast-bowlers. And they ended up arriving Down Under with none of them. It was a woeful return made to look worse by more than two years of talk.
Stokes would, therefore, do well to dismiss the looming prospect of Australia next summer or face a similar fate barely 18 months into his premiership. England have to earn the right to talk about beating Pat Cummins and co.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad (Getty Images)
Managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key has confirmed that he and Stokes want the country's two leading wicket-takers back in the team following their omission from the West Indies tour.
The speed in which the new MD and captain have reversed the decision made by the previous regime further highlights the absurdness of that original call to leave them at home.
It was a judgement made somewhat worse when Root declared of the pair, who have 1,177 Test wickets between them: "It would be great to see them starting the season and putting themselves in the mix for selection."
The pair deserve some clarity over their role going forward so that decisions such as these are not the massive surprise the Windies omission clearly was.
After some muddled long-term thinking, Key will demand the best XI is picked for every game. Rest and rotation don't initially appear to be part of his vocabulary.
That will be welcome news for Stokes, who unlike his predecessor saw himself hamstrung by rarely having all players fully available.
Helping to restore trust, providing clarity over the future and reaffirming their importance to his tenure will be key messages for Stokes to get across to the pair, who are vital figures to ensure the transition is a smooth one.
England taking the knee in the West Indies (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
England took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of Stokes' first Test as captain against West Indies in July 2020.
But it has only been visible from England teams in dispatches since, during the T20 (and Women's) World Cup, and the Caribbean Test series, provoking criticism from Michael Holding.
While winning and playing entertaining cricket will rank high on the list of priorities for Stokes, Key and the new head coaches, it shouldn't come before establishing what they want the England men's team to represent.
Taking the knee has been described as both a baseless gesture and a political statement when it is clearly, and has been described as such by those who partake, as an act of unity and support with those who are suppressed.
English cricket is on a difficult road towards properly tackling its racism problem, sparked into belated action by the experiences of Azeem Rafiq and others.
And just because some progress is being made off the field, doesn't mean attention can't continue to be brought to racism and discrimination on it.
Stokes took an indefinite break from cricket in 2021 (Anthony Devlin/AFP/Getty Images)
Just 272 days passed between Stokes declaring his needed to take an indefinite break from cricket, and his appointment as Test captain.
English cricket have responded to his struggles with the intensity of the cricket schedule, bubble life and the physical demands of the sport by giving him one of the most high-pressure roles going.
The sport has already failed Stokes once, forcing him to withdraw himself from selection. England called him up last summer during his rehab to captain the ODI team, they watched on as he played through injury in Australia and the West Indies, far from his best.
And now he must pull off perhaps his most difficult coup, combining leadership with his role as a talismanic allrounder, with the eyes of the world firmly on his every move. Less than a year after stepping away from the game completely, it is an uncomfortable outcome.
That is not to accuse Key or the ECB of a complete dereliction of duty in this case. Stokes is 30 and able to make his own decisions. There is no doubt he was an outstanding candidate and Key approached him personally about the position. There is no feeling he has been unduly pressured.
"It was an easy decision to appoint Ben," said Key. "It would have been a lot tougher if he wasn’t keen. I talked to a lot of people that know him. Every single one of them said that they felt he’d be an excellent captain. And they were very honest about the best way to manage him."
But it didn't need to be now. If there is one thing we know about Benjamin Stokes it is that he meets adversity head-on and grasps the nettle. Taking backward steps and shirking challenges is not in his nature. Perhaps, like his bowling, he needed saving from himself.
As he did when he withdrew himself from contention for the home India series and the T20 World Cup, Stokes was honest about his state of mind and took the necessary measures. You hope that doesn't change, even if that means sacrificing his new responsibility.
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