Ben Stokes is ready to step up and captain England in place of Joe Root if required this summer, stating that he is “the Scottie Pippen to Joe’s Michael Jordan”. 

Stokes is England’s vice-captain in the longest format and looks set to temporarily replace Root if the Yorkshireman is forced to miss a Test against West Indies next month to be present at the birth of his second child.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mirror, Stokes compared his partnership with Root to the famous Chicago Bulls basketball duo of the Nineties – Pippen was seen as the sidekick of Jordan – acknowledging that while “I’ll make my own calls on the field”, he will be acting as a placeholder for the permanent captain.

“I’m the Scottie Pippen to Joe’s Michael Jordan,” said Stokes. “It is his team. But what would be the point of asking me to do the job if not for this kind of situation?

“I understand where Joe is taking the team and how he wants to lead it. So although I’ll make my own calls on the field and do the job as I see it as the game evolves, everything else will very much be the same as when Joe is there.”

Stokes was previously stripped off the vice-captaincy in 2017 after his involvement in a brawl outside a Bristol nightclub, but he was reinstated to the position ahead of last year’s Ashes series.

Speaking to reporters last week, Root said he could see Stokes “doing a very good job” in his place. “One of his great qualities as vice-captain and as a leader is he sets the example,” Root added. “The way he goes about training, how he wants to bowl in difficult circumstances, the way he stands up in different scenarios with the bat – he drags people with him.”