“Stokesy is an unbelievable player,” Tongue, who took match figures of 3 for 161 in 40 overs, said at the close. “Obviously I made my debut when he was captain, so I’ve got huge respect for Stokesy. It’s always nice seeing him get some runs as well.”

Stokes has struggled with the bat in recent years but is England’s second-highest wicket-taker – behind Tongue – since the start of last summer, and his absence left them feeling unable to pick a frontline spinner at The Oval due to the balance of the side.

Joe Root has stepped up as interim captain for the second Test and was unbeaten on 75 overnight heading into the final day. Tongue praised Root’s leadership but conceded that England had missed Stokes, and failed to name any team-mates when asked who else had taken on extra responsibility this week.

“We’ve missed him,” Tongue said, “but obviously we’ve got a lot of leaders in our team as well. Rooty, stepping in as captain, is obviously an unbelievable player and an unbelievable leader as well. It’s been good.

“We obviously have our little debriefs at the end of days’ plays, and we always go around the lads and we try and say as much as we can if we got things wrong on the day and then obviously praise each other as well.”

Durham chief executive Tim Bostock told the BBC on Friday that he was “bemused” by some commentary on Stokes’ wellbeing, while head coach Ryan Campbell said earlier this week that he appeared to be in “good spirits” when training at Chester-le-Street.

Will Rhodes, who shared a 153-run four-wicket stand with Stokes, said that he had enjoyed batting with him. “It’s nice to see how Stokesy goes about his business,” Rhodes said. “It’s not often you’re standing at the other end and you feel inferior to someone. Nobody in the crowd’s come to watch me bat, so it was nice to go about my work pretty quietly.”

England are expected to name a squad for the third Test on Monday, with Stokes’ inclusion dependent on the outcome of ongoing investigations by the ECB and the Cricket Regulator.