Ahead of England’s second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge, captain Ben Stokes said right-handed batter Dan Lawrence is on standby as left-handed opener Ben Duckett is awaiting the birth of his first child.
England have named Duckett in their playing eleven for the second Test starting on Thursday morning. But in case Duckett is needed to be around his fiance Paige for the birth of their first child provided the situation changes before the toss, Lawrence will come into the eleven in that case, as a contingency plan made by England.
“There is a plan and place for Ben and his partner. We will have to make a decision if it was to happen before the game and we were batting but if it happens during the Test Ben will go and come back into the team.”
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“He is incredibly desperate to play this Test match but the message from me and Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) is that family comes first. Whatever decision he ends up making he knows he will get our full support,” said Stokes in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
Stokes also confirmed Gus Atkinson will share the new ball with Chris Woakes following the retirement of veteran pacer James Anderson at Lord’s. Atkinson was the star for England on his Test debut, taking 12-106 to play a huge role in England winning by an innings and 114 runs.
“I said last week that when I first saw Gus live in the World Cup in India, he just had all the attributes of a very, very good bowler. A lot of it has to do with the Dukes ball, and how it has behaved. There has not actually been that much movement in the air with the new ball.”
“It’s generally been off the surface, hitting the seam and Gus is a very good exponent of that. At 10-12 overs you get a buff on one side and that is when it really starts to swing, so that is where me and Woody come in.”
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With Wood coming into the eleven following Anderson’s retirement, Stokes reckons not many batters in international cricket will enjoy facing the tearaway pacer swinging the ball at 94mph.
“We picked what we felt was the best XI in the squad. Finding another bowler that can bowl between 87 and 90mph… is very exciting at the prospect of Gus Atkinson running in from one end and Mark Wood from the other. Woody had an unbelievable Ashes last summer.”
“He was a massive player with a huge impact and everyone knows why — because of his pace. He was too hard to look past as he is one of our best bowlers. There will be opportunities for Dillon this summer, no doubt, but at this moment in time, Woody makes it into our best XI. Woody bowling at 94mph with the ball swinging is going to be tough for anyone.”
Stokes signed off by saying England’s bowlers are keen to pick the brains of Anderson, who is now with the team as a fast-bowling mentor. “You can see the lads are desperate to pick his brains. It was different before as he was preparing for his own game so it was like, ‘let him do his stuff and pick his brains as much as you can when appropriate’.”
“Now you can see how the lads were drawn towards him, wanting to know what he thinks and how he holds certain deliveries. I think it has been a very smooth transition. There is still emotion there – it has only been a week – but I think he knows he has so much more to offer English cricket, particularly with the ball. I can’t think of a better bloke to pass on the knowledge of fast bowling to the guys we have at the moment,” he said.
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