English skipper Joe Root will miss the opening test against the West Indies next week to attend the birth of his second child.
Star all-rounder Ben Stokes will lead the team in Roots’ absence for the first time.
The first game of the three-test series starts at the Aegeas Bowl in Southampton on July 8, and Roots’ wife is due around the same time.
Root threw his weight behind the all-rounder because he was the interim captain and called him a “natural leader”.
“He is very well equipped to do a fantastic job for us,” Root told the BBC.
Root is also a dubious starter for the second test, as the skipper has to go through seven days of self-isolation before joining the team.
Last week Ashley Giles, cricket director of the Cricket Board (ECB) in England and Wales, said the board hoped to allow players to exit and re-enter the team’s “bubble” during the series, including root.
The series, which is played in “bio-safe” locations, marks the resumption of cricket after a three-month interruption of the corona virus.
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