‘It’s a great wake-up call’: Joe Root praises Ben Stokes’ openness

• Root says film shows things he was not aware of
• ‘It’s not easy to see a close friend and teammate like that’

Joe Root has praised Ben Stokes’s courage in dealing so frankly with his off‑pitch issues in his new Amazon documentary, predicting the England Test captain’s openness “will better the environment we’re playing in”.

Root has seen the film, Phoenix from the Ashes, which is released on Friday. “There’s a lot in there even I as someone who’s generally quite close to him wasn’t aware of,” he said.

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