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Ben Stokes explains James Anderson call as England make changes for third test

04 July 2023 , 23:41
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James Anderson has been dropped by England (Image: PA)
James Anderson has been dropped by England (Image: PA)

England captain Ben Stokes has assured James Anderson that he will be back in the XI for his 'home' test at Old Trafford after being rested for this week's encounter at Headingley.

Mark Wood returns to the side as England's fastest bowler after missing the first two matches to build up his fitness and durability. Chris Woakes joins him in the side with both Anderson and Josh Tongue sitting out this week after their exploits at Lord's.

And having already played at Edgbaston in the opening match, Moeen Ali is back in the side in place of the injured Ollie Pope who is out of the rest of the series with his shoulder injury.

Harry Brook will move to three in the order in place of Pope, while Moeen will slot in at seven with Woakes at eight which represents a far shorter tail than at Lord's.

And skipper Ben Stokes can't wait to see his Durham team-mate Wood release the handbrake at Headingley and get stuck into the series.

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Stokes said: “It's great to have Woody fit. He’s firing and really ready to go this week and I’m looking forward to seeing him get going.

Ben Stokes explains James Anderson call as England make changes for third testMark Wood is back in the England team (REX/Shutterstock)

"We were very open and honest and clear with each other before the series started that it's going to be very tough to ask the bowlers to play every game this summer. It's a good chance for Jimmy to rest up and then get ready to charge in from the Jimmy Anderson End at Old Trafford next week."

Brook's promotion to three keeps Joe Root in his favoured position of four, while Jonny Bairstow can resume at number five, where he scored so many runs last summer. Moeen has also fully recovered from the damage his spinning finger sustained at Edgbaston due to the proud seam and extra bowling that he did on his initial Test return.

He will be England's main spinner at Leeds with Joe Root providing back up, which eases the pressure on Stokes to bowl and the reshuffle also allows England to retain four main seamers with Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson retaining their places.

Ben Stokes explains James Anderson call as England make changes for third testMoeen Ali is playing his second match of the series this week (PA)

"I'm not gonna lie: that last week sort of took it out of me a little bit," added Stokes. "So a big part of what I had to think of is what would be the best team if I wasn't to bowl a ball in this game in the worst case scenario? That doesn't mean I'm not going to bowl but that was a huge part of the thinking about the team that we picked.

"And when you've got a player like Brookie, you feel like he can slot in any position. If something was to happen last summer, from our one to six, he would have come in in any position and we feel that Brooke is a type of player who will just take the responsibility and just crack on with it.

"We obviously want to keep Joe at four because he's a remarkable player and Johnny moving up to five was just to get him into the game earlier. The things he did last summer in our number five position is quite hard to look past so the change in the batting order was actually very simple to be honest."

England Team: Duckett, Crawley, Brook, Root, Bairstow (wk), Stokes, Moeen, Woakes, Wood, Robinson, Broad

Dean Wilson

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