After their 336-run defeat to India, England are thinking of changing their bowling attack because the workload has been so heavy. Gus Atkinson has been added to the squad for Thursday’s third Test at Lord’s because of a hamstring injury.
In the first two Tests, England’s three main bowlers – Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes – each bowled between 77 and 82 overs. Atkinson joins Jofra Archer, Sam Cook and Jamie Overton as other bowling options in the 16-man squad for Lord’s. With the Tests so close together, changes will be made.
Ben Stokes said, We’ve been in the field for a while and bowled a lot in the first two games. We’ll have to see how everyone feels in the next couple of days. Because of the quick turnaround we might have to make a decision based on how everyone recovers from this game.
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Archer hasn’t played a Test since February 2021 but bowled a lot during the breaks this week at Edgbaston. Brendon McCullum hinted he might come back next week. McCullum told Test Match Special, We’ll let this one settle and when we get to Lord’s we’ll think about it.
When asked about Archer’s availability, McCullum said, He’s available. The other guys have played two Tests in a row so you’d expect a change at some point and Jofra is someone we’ll consider. Stokes said, Everyone is being considered for the game at Lord’s.
England’s 336-run defeat was their third biggest since Stokes became full-time captain but he said it won’t affect them going forward. He said, We’ve had some great wins and some bad losses. I think I’m good at staying calm through the ups and downs and so is the team.
That’s so important in this series because we knew it wouldn’t be easy… We need to forget about this one as soon as possible because the first day at Lord’s is coming up fast. We’ll have a day or two to get our bodies right and get our strength back and then we’ll be out there flipping the coin.He also said England not taking 20 wickets at Edgbaston wasn’t a big deal. Stokes said, You have to be impressed with how well India batted. If someone got in, the conditions were good. Two of our guys showed that this week… You have to let your opponent play well and they did.
England: Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
