Ben Stokes has backed Stuart Broad to shine if selected for England’s second Test against West Indies.

Stand-in skipper Stokes left the Nottinghamshire seamer out of his pace attack for the first match of the series, which the visitors won by four wickets.

In an emotional interview with Sky Sports during the fixture, Broad admitted to feeling ‘angry, frustrated and gutted’ about missing out on selection – a theme he expanded upon in his newspaper column.

“I was never going to go in and tear down trees because that would be detrimental to what the England team are trying to do on the field, but I also didn’t want to just toe the party line when I didn’t fully agree with the decision,” he wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

“The frustration I have felt this week has stemmed from me believing that the shirt was mine and there were enough cricket reasons for me to feel that.

“It has been tough to take, I have made no bones about that and thankfully I have had more nice messages in the last couple of days than I ever did when I took eight for 15 against Australia. 

“I felt like I had done enough in the last couple of years not to feel as though my spot was under pressure. Now the pressure is because I am not in the side.

“Arguably, that will bring the best out of me. I perform well in big games and against the best.”

"He's nowhere near done and, if he plays in the second Test match, I really hope he walks off that field with a bit of an 'up you'."

Ben Stokes on Stuart Broad

Stokes, who will hand the captaincy reins back to Joe Root for this week’s Test at Emirates Old Trafford, feels Broad is equipped to hit the ground running when called upon this summer.

"We're in a fortunate position that we're able to leave someone out of Stuart's quality and I thought the interview he gave the other day was fantastic, the passion he showed,” said the all-rounder.

“For someone who's played that many Test matches and got that many wickets to still have that desire and emotion is fantastic.

"He's nowhere near done and, if he plays in the second Test match, I really hope he walks off that field with a bit of an 'up you'."

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