England have announced the squad for the second Test match and have made two changes from the Edgbaston Test. Surrey’s Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes replace Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes respectively.
While Stokes faces a court hearing this coming week in Bristol, Malan’s form has dipped away after a promising Ashes and has been shunted away.
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20-year-old Pope has been in rampant form for Surrey this season and has already scored 684 runs at an astounding average of 85.50. He has already peeled off three centuries and his top score is an impressive 158. He had been earmarked after such a bumper season and was also a part of Young Lions squads during 2016-17. Also, he scored a half-century against the India A squad last month and starred in a 253 runs win for his side.
“Ollie Pope has made an exceptional start to his first class career. He has reached a 1000 first class runs in just 15 matches and is the first division’s stand-out batsman this season with 684 runs at 85. The selection panel believe that Ollie’s performances and character suggest he is well suited to international cricket,” chief selector Ed Smith informed after naming the squad.
“Dawid Malan drops out of the squad for Lord’s. Dawid has not found his best rhythm this season, and it may be that his game is better suited to overseas conditions,” he further added.
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“Ben Stokes is unavailable, but Chris Woakes, with some extra matches and practices under his belt, can now return to the England squad after injury,” he informed.
England squad for the second Test: Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes.
First Published: Aug 05, 2018 16:53 IST
Source: HindustanTimes