After days of speculation with respect to changes in the England team for the upcoming Ashes test at Old Trafford ECB has announced an unchanged squad which means Jhonny Bairstow whose spot was under scrutiny after another below-average performance with the gloves has succeeded in securing his place in the squad.
One of the reasons why selectors and team management decided to name an unchanged squad was that they wanted to carry on the momentum the team gained in the third test at Headingley after a hard-fought win courtesy of a complete team effort.
England announced unchanged squad for Manchester Test
After England’s win at Headingley, there was speculation that the management might drop Bairstow and bring in Ben Foakes who is a better gloveman than Bairstow. The Yorkshire man has been below average behind the stumps and has missed several chances in three test matches so far and that is one of the reasons why England are trailing in the series.
Old Trafford has traditionally been a batting-friendly ground with an average first-innings total of 335. The pitch has got a good bounce on it which will assist the fast bowlers. English bowlers will be rearing to go especially Mark Wood who bowled a Firey opening spell on day one of the third test match. A nine-day break between test matches will do the fast bowler a lot of good as he would be fresh for the next match.
Any ‘Changes’ in the Playing11?
Although England is going in with the same squad there are possibilities of changes in the playing eleven especially in the fast-bowling department with Robinson nursing a back injury there are high chances of him not featuring in the eleven at Old Trafford.
Another change that Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum can consider is of resting Broad and including Josh Tongue in the elven a bowler who can complement Mark Wood in terms of pace.
More ‘Responsibility’ from the batters
England’s batting has failed miserably in the series. Apart from Ben Stokes, every other batter has thrown his wicket away after getting set. They have not looked out of form it’s just that they have not batted according to the situation and have not changed their Bazball approach apart from Ben Stokes. The captain would like his batters to take more responsibility.
