England have announced their playing XI for must-win Headingley Test. Their veteran pacer James Anderson who could just take three wickets from 77 overs in the first two Tests has been dropped from the side. Anderson has made way for their tearaway pacer Mark Wood who has not played a Test since December 2022.
Moeen Ali has made a comeback after recovering from finger injury that ruled him out of the second Test. Ali has replaced Ollie Pope who injured his shoulder and requires surgery. Josh Tongue who made his Ashes debut at Lord’s London has been dropped as well. Chris Woakes will play his first Test in more than a year.
Earlier, it was expected that Dan Lawrence will replace an injured Pope who has been ruled out of entire summer. Lawrence recently scored a century as well for his County side. However, England opted to bolster their pace lineup instead of a specialist batter. Chris Woakes can contribute with the bat as well. He has 1,675 runs from 74 innings at an average of 27.91 including one century and six half-centuries.
In Pope’s absence, it will be interesting to see who bats at no.3. Harry Brook who has not impressed in the Ashes so far may get a promotion from no.5 to no.3.
Recently Anderson had also indicated that he knows he may not get picked for the Headingley Test. But he said that he will be ready whenever he gets a call.
"I am not thinking about the future. The future for me is just thinking about Thursday and the start of the next Test. That is as far ahead as I will look. If I get the nod, I will put in a performance the team need. If not, I will keep working hard and play a role at some stage across the series," Anderson had written in a column on The Telegraph.
England Playing XI for Headingley Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad
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