Root back for England to face Windies in second Test at Manchester, Broad finds place

Fresh from becoming a far of two, Joe Root will be reinstalled as England captain on Thursday with his team in very familiar territory.

With Root absent so he could be with his wife for birth of ir second child, England lost first Test against West Indies last week in what was first international cricket match since sport's shutdown because of coronavirus outbreak.

It leaves England with a bizarre record of having lost first Test in eight of team's last 10 series.

So, after some time away from camp, is Root any closer to putting his finger on why se slow starts keep happening? "," Root said Wednesday in a video call for his pre-match news conference.

"It's quite frustrating — you don't want to be behind, you want to put a marker down early. pleasing thing is re have been times when that's been case and we've still come out and won series. That's challenge w." England's players and coaches discussed that very issue after loss in Southampton on Sunday, with some confidence generated from fact that team came from 1-0 down to a win 3-1 in a Test series in South Africa around turn of year.

With series against West Indies being only three Tests, England has to bounce back immediately and Root's return is clearly a positive.

captain will take place of Joe Denly, who made 18 and 29 in his two innings at Rose Bowl and was fighting with Zak Crawley to keep his spot for second Test at Old Trafford.

Crawley had England's highest single score with 76 in second innings.

re is likely to be a change in bowling attack, too, with Stuart Broad pushing for a recall after being dropped for first Test — and n speaking publicly about his disappointment during match.

Root said any decision would be taken after he took a look at Old Trafford pitch again later Wednesday.

re has been rain in Manchester and Root described wicket as having a "nice brownish colour." Root briefly handed over captaincy to Ben Stokes for first Test, but did have some input in selection and decision-making despite his parental duties at home.

He said he mand to watch most of match, except for when he "had to go and hit some balls myself." "You want to be re and you want to be involved," Root said, "and after playing 80-odd games on bounce, it was hard to sit re and watch kwing you can't really affect things." Continuity has been key for England when it comes to selection in recent years, which may prove a blessing for Jos Buttler. wicketkeeper-batsman — a limited-overs specialist — has a Test aver of 23.22 since start of 2019, and only one century in 75 innings, but is set to keep his place.

"It's just a matter of time before we see some of those special innings we've seen in white-ball cricket," Root said of Buttler.

"His performances can transfer across.

"He's a big part of our group, has been for a long time and is a great thinker about game. He's a big senior player in dressing room across formats and I just feel he's t far away from grabbing Test cricket and really running with it." West Indies are holders of Wisden Trophy after beating England in a home series last year, so will retain it with a draw in first of back-to-back Tests in Manchester.

And y are looking to seal a first Test series victory in England in 32 years. t since 1992-93 — when likes of Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose were in ir pomp — have Windies won an overseas Test series consisting of more than two matches against major opposition.

"I haven't mentioned anything about history to guys," West Indies captain Jason Holder said.

"It's hard for us to get caught up in peripheral stuff.

"Winning first Test match is just one piece of puzzle. We've got two or games to play and we don't get ahead of ourselves." Opening batsman John Campbell is likely to be available after being struck on boot by a yorker from Jofra Archer on Day 5 in Southampton. Campbell retired hurt but was back at crease as Windies sealed victory late in day.