Former Worskop College student Joe Root to be named new England captain

Former Worksop College cricketer Joe Root is set to be named as the new England cricket captain.
25 April 2016.....Yorkshire & England cricketer Joe Root at Sheffield's Abbeydale Sports Club. Picture Scott Merrylees25 April 2016.....Yorkshire & England cricketer Joe Root at Sheffield's Abbeydale Sports Club. Picture Scott Merrylees
25 April 2016.....Yorkshire & England cricketer Joe Root at Sheffield's Abbeydale Sports Club. Picture Scott Merrylees

Root, 26, will succeed Alastair Cook who stood down last Monday.

The Sheffield-born batsman has scored 4,594 runs since he made his Test debut in December 2012.

Only India captain Virat Kohli has scored more runs in all forms of international cricket during that timeframe.

It is understood that Ben Stokes is to be named vice-captain. An announcement by the ECB is due at 11am Monday. Cook resigned last week after a record 59-match tenure.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has taken time over appointing 26-year-old Yorkshire batsman Root. It has canvassed the opinion of several senior players first as well as interviewing the Yorkshireman.

Root, who has been Cook’s vice-captain since May last year, will have five months to prepare for his first Test in charge - against South Africa at Lord’s starting on July 6.

England’s record Test run scorer Cook is expected to remain at the top of the order for the foreseeable future. Root, who averages almost 53 in his 53 Tests to date, will have no shortage of advisers to turn to on and off the pitch - including experienced pace pair James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and coaches Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace. England, meanwhile, will have to manage his workload.

Root is a key player in limited-overs cricket as well as Tests, and may be viewed as a key player for the Champions Trophy on home soil.