"Ben Stokes's father, Ged, was admitted to hospital on Monday in Johannesburg after suffering a serious illness. He remains in a critical condition," an ECB statement read.

"The all-rounder will not be at England's training session at SuperSport Park this afternoon so that he can be at his father's bedside. The England and Wales Cricket Board, with the support of Ben and his family, request that the media and public respect Ben and his family's privacy at this time."

Stokes senior, 64, played one rugby league Test for New Zealand in 1982 and first moved to England as a player with Workington Town.

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He later coached the team, as well as Whitehaven, and it was in Cumbria that his son began to show his aptitude for cricket.

Ged, whose full name is Gerard, now lives just outside Christchurch with Stokes' mother Deb. The couple were overjoyed by their son's World Cup heroics and even appeared on Good Morning Britain via videolink the day after the historic win at Lord's, where they were interviewed by Piers Morgan.

England captain Joe Root, speaking at a press conference, said: "It puts things in perspective. We're here to play good, hard cricket but it's important as a squad that we want Ben and his family to have all the support they can get.

"I want to stress the importance of respecting his privacy. All the players and squad want to show Ben our support.

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"What's most important is we support him and his family. It's crucial that comes first."

England will allow Stokes whatever freedom he needs ahead of the Test match and will rejig their team as necessary if he is unable to feature.

The selection picture was already cloudy, with uncertainty over Jofra Archer's fitness following a week-long sickness bug.

Sam Curran is the closest to a like-for-like deputy to Stokes, as an authentic all-rounder, but England may also be tempted to recall Jonny Bairstow as a specialist batsman given Stokes' key role at number five.

PA