Joe Root and his wife expecting second child soon; England skipper might miss first Test against West Indies

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently announced the dates for the Test series against West Indies. The three-match series which was supposed to start in June has now been shifted by a month. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a threat of the series getting cancelled altogether. However, with the UK government agreeing to resume the sport behind closed doors has led to the ECB expecting to start the series from July 8.

Unfortunately, there could be a situation where England Test skipper Joe Root might miss the first Test. Carrie, Joe’s wife is due to give birth to their second child in the early part of the July month. Root has revealed that he would be with his wife during this time. According to the reports, if he misses out, then Ben Stokes, the vice-captain will lead the side.

If Ben (Stokes) was captain he would be fantastic, says Root

The ECB had announced that the Test series will be played completely behind the closed doors. The matches will also be played in a biosecure environment where players are isolated from the general public completely. If Joe Root misses out from the first Test due to the earlier stated reason, he might need to be in quarantine before rejoining the team inside the bio-secure ‘bubble’.

“The start of July is the due date, so that complicates things slightly,” said Root as reported by Cricbuzz. “In terms of the bubble and the pregnancy, it’s being discussed with the medical team. At the minute, it’s still open for discussion, how that will finally look, I’m not exactly sure. It will have to come down to government advice.”