![]() ![]() Lord’s has also been a slow wicket in recent years the head groundsman Karl McDermott offered an early glimpse of next week’s surface on Twitter yesterday.Īfter the Lord’s Test, England head to Headingley for the third Test. That’s what you want and I’m always ready for a chance to take Test wickets.”įollowing captain Ben Stokes’ request for “flat, fast pitches”, England bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been critical of the pitch at Edgbaston, which was largely very good for batting. “What a great spectacle it was, what great fun to have a chance to affect the game. “It’s always great when you get a chance to contribute to any Test match, you want to get involved and step up in those big moments. ![]() “I think Moeen will be absolutely fine, I’m sure he will be,” said Root. Root said after the game that he was keen to bowl more, but England will also be wary of overburdening the world’s best batsman. Jacks might have suffered because he turns the ball the same way as Root, and remains a raw spinner, while Dawson is an experienced, reliable operator who would represent a more similar option to Leach. Ahmed has beaten Jacks and Dawson due to his obvious x-factor. It appears unlikely that, after a long period of dry weather, England would be able to go without a frontline spinner. In Division Two of the Championship, he has taken just six wickets at 67.7 this season, but has scored four half-centuries. Root bowled a solid spell on the final day (before eventually being hit for a pair of game-changing sixes by Pat Cummins), showing that he can be used to hold up an end, with Ahmed utilised as a more attacking, mysterious option.Īhmed has been the listed concussion sub for both Leach and Moeen so far this summer, so has remained in England’s thoughts while he plays for Leicestershire. The performance of Joe Root at Edgbaston also came into consideration. He is fearless, and his ability to spin the ball both ways may have come into the conversation due to Australia’s split of right- and left-handed batsmen. Even if the injury heals, it is liable to split open again when Moeen starts training at Lord’s on Monday.Īhmed is already England’s youngest men’s player in all three international formats and enjoyed a memorable five-wicket haul on Test debut in Pakistan in December. England have monitored his fitness all week and, while Moeen’s finger is said to be improving fast, they feel cover is required. His inability to bowl many overs in helpful conditions on the final day was a contributing factor to an England defeat in an epic Test.Īfter the game coach McCullum said he would play at Lord’s if fit. His spinning finger, as it did on the Ashes tour of 2017/18, ripped open due to a rise in his workload, causing a nasty blister. ![]() Moeen did what was asked of him, creating chances (he took three wickets and saw two more go begging through a missed stumping and dropped catch by Jonny Bairstow), but almost immediately suffered a recurrence of a long-standing injury. Moeen made his return to Test cricket after almost two years in the series opener at Edgbaston, following a stress fracture of the back for Jack Leach, England’s first-choice spinner for the first 13 matches of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s time in charge. ![]() The series was only named the Ashes five years later. While Moeen could overcome the injury to play, if Ahmed, the 18-year-old Leicestershire leg spinner, is selected he would become the youngest player to play a men’s Test between both countries since Australia’s Tom Garrett featured in the first two matches between the sides in Melbourne in 1877, aged 18. Rehan Ahmed could become the youngest man to play in a Test between England and Australia in 146 years next week at Lord’s after he was called up as cover for Moeen Ali.Įngland have shown their appetite for adventure once more by selecting Ahmed ahead of Will Jacks or Liam Dawson as Moeen manages a finger injury. ![]()
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