England will look at their regular captain Joe Root for motivation when they take on West Indies in the second Test of #raisethebat series at Old Trafford in Manchester starting Thursday.
Root was not part of the England squad for the first Test as he had left the bio-secure bubble in Southampton to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.
Root is expected to replace Joe Denly who has not been impressive in his short Test career so far while Zak Crawley’s 76 in the second innings might just be enough for him to play the final two matches in the series.
Although wicketkeeper Jos Buttler wasn’t in the best of forms in the first test, it seems unlikely that he would be replaced in the second Test.
“I’m not going to go down the road of putting Jos under pressure because I don’t think that will help him,’ Silverwood was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“First and foremost we want to give him the best chance to succeed but, yes, we have a very good gloveman here in Ben Foakes,” he added.
“I think Stuart handled himself very well during that interview, to be honest,” Silverwood said.
“What I did love about it, and subsequently the conversations I’ve had with him, is that passion. That drive is still there and to see that in someone who’s done as much in the game as he has, I find very exciting to be honest.
“And Stuart still has a big role to play within this team. I’ve made that very clear to him.”
England Squad: Joe Root (C) Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, James Bracey, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, Olly Stone
(With inputs from IANS)