Joe Root makes Ben Stokes admission as he admits regret over his time as England captain

Joe Root wishes he had shown the enterprise and attacking intent of Ben Stokes when he was England captain.

The No 1 ranked batsman in the world has totally bought in to the modern methods that, despite narrow defeat to Australia at Edgbaston, have transformed their Test cricket and created a new template for how the game should be played.

And Root just wishes he had shown the same sense of adventure, with pretty much the same personnel, that his great friend Stokes has drawn from to revolutionise Test cricket.

‘If I could go back in time I’d start my captaincy tenure the way Ben has and try to play in a similar manner to how he does it,’ said Root in the aftermath of the epic first Test.

‘It’s far more exciting, far more interesting and we are getting more out of our team and individuals. We’re playing better cricket to watch and producing better results overall.’

Joe Root wished he showed the same level of attacking intent as Ben Stokes when captain

Root’s run as captain ended with a dismal run of just one win in the last 17 Tests of his captaincy

Stokes meanwhile has claimed 11 victories in 14 Tests since he replaced Root as captain

The last year must have been bitter-sweet in many ways for Root. He captained England in 64 Tests, more than any other leader, and has the English record both for the amount of victories, 27, but also losses in 26.

But he was never a natural captain and his reign ended miserably with humiliation in the last Ashes and then a desperately dull defeat in the Caribbean when the methods of Root and coach Chris Silverwood were shown to be totally lacking in imagination.

He would not be human if he did not wonder why he could not inspire this England team like Stokes does, particularly during that last dismal run which saw them win just once in the last 17 Tests of Root’s captaincy.

It is to Root’s enormous credit that he has put that behind him to become a loyal lieutenant to Stokes and a batsman combining the game that has now brought him 30 Test centuries with the breathtaking audacity of reverse ramps to the first ball of a day’s play.

Now he wants England to hold their nerve and back the game that has brought them 11 wins from the first 14 Tests under Stokes despite the setback at Edgbaston.

‘If we are going to grow as a team we can’t look at days like the last one at Edgbaston with a couple of moments going against us and say ‘we need to do things differently.’ If anything we need to double down on how we do it, completely back ourselves and make sure we get those one per centers right at Lord’s.’

England will now take stock before they begin preparations for the second Test on Monday but the former captain believes this series really can follow the same dramatic path as the fabled 2005 one when England lost the first Test but thrillingly won the Ashes.

‘Time will tell but I think we’re in for a rollercoaster ride,’ said Root. ‘That 2005 series did capture the nation. It did for me as a 14-15 year old kid. It made me really fall in love with the Ashes and if we keep playing the way we are we’ve got the opportunity to do something similar for the next generation coming through.’

Root insists England play better cricket with better results now than when he was captain – despite Stokes’ side losing to Australia in the first Test of the Ashes at Edgbaston 

And there will be more of the ‘Superman’ style that saw Root aim a reverse scoop at Pat Cummins off the first ball of the fourth day in Birmingham before he aimed two more at Scott Boland in the next over and hit him for six and four.

‘I don’t feel like Superman,’ smiled Root. ‘I’m absolutely bricking it when he’s running in to bowl most of the time. The first time I did it in this Test it was quite clear he was bowling wide and it didn’t feel like there was a lot of risk to it.

‘Doing it to the first ball of the day was more about the match situation and being 28 for two. It was a chance to lay down a marker and say to everyone in the ground ‘we’re not here to be bowled at, we’re here to push the game on’.

‘I think that’s how we all look at the game now. From any position we feel like we can get somewhere to go on and win.’