Root says Stokes and family must get ‘all the support they can’Ged Stokes in critical condition with all-rounder at his bedsideEngland’s preparations for the Test series continue to be nightmarish. The grimmest news came on
Christmas Eve when it was announced that Ben Stokes’s father, in Johannesburg to watch the Test on Boxing Day, was in “a critical condition” in hospital. Later in the day it transpired that Chris Woakes had become another victim of the flu epidemic that has plagued the tour party.
Joe Root could not add any more detail to the ECB’s press release about Stokes’s father, Ged, which referred to “a serious illness”. The captain stressed that “everyone should respect the privacy of Stokes and his family” and he added that it was “crucial” for the squad to support them all – his mother, brother and wife are also in Johannesburg.