Temporary vice-captain to be chosen for England ahead of Ashes Test

A temporary vice-captain for the England team will be appointed before the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, confirmed captain Joe Root.

Ben Stokes, the Test vice-captain, is missing the Ashes tour.

The Test is slated to be held at the Gabba from November 23, following wild street brawl incident in Bristol last month which allegedly inflicted bodily harm on a man.

Alastair Cook, Root's predecessor as captain and Stuart Broad, England's T20 captain for brief time, are believed to be the frontrunners of the deputy captain role.

Captain Root said the appointment of vice-captain will be done before the Gabba series after discussions with the team management.

"Over next few days, myself and the management will have a chat and it will be sorted by the First Test," Root was quoted, as saying by the Independent over vice-captaincy.

"I don't think it makes a massive difference to me on the field. I have some senior players around me who have been fantastic throughout the summer," the right-handed batsman added.

England, however, have suffered two injury blows prior to their first warm-up match, ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, with paceman Steven Finn and all-rounder Moeen Ali all set to undergo scans.

Despite the setback, Root has asked his team to be ruthless right from the start of this Ashes tour.

"We want to be as ruthless as we can and start the tour as we mean to go on," he said.

As of August 2015, England holds the Ashes, having won three of the five Tests in the 2015 Ashes series.

Australia and England have won 32 series each and five series have been drawn.