England have named uncapped Mark Footitt, and Liam Plunkett, in a 14-man squad for the potentially series-clinching fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Trent Bridge.
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The two pace bowlers have been brought into the squad after James Anderson was ruled out with a side strain, although there is no place for Durham’s Chris Rushworth, who had been tipped for a first call up.
Footitt´s inclusion came after the 29-year-old took 82 wickets at a miserly average of just over 19 apiece for Derbyshire in the Second Division of England´s first-class County Championship last season.
Mitchell Johnson could be just 55 wickets – and 12 months – away from retiring from Test cricket as he climbs the ladder of Australia’s most successful bowlers.
“It’s something I’m able to block out or get involved when I need to”.
“The reports on Wood are positive at this stage and we are hopeful he´ll be available for selection on Thursday”, Whitaker added.
England are also vowing to address the inconsistency which has seen them follow each of their last three Test wins with instant defeat – a dubious sequence achieved by no other team in the history of the sport.
“Cooky (Alastair Cook) is very clear that it’s all about us this week”.
“You don’t lose your class. He (Clarke) is not scoring the runs that he would like at the moment, but you don’t play the amount of cricket that he has played not for something just to be around the corner”.
We will never know what would have happened if England had batted first but, certainly, the movement that Anderson got and the way he bowled really played into England’s favour.
The newest member of Australia’s 300 club reached the milestone with a hostile bouncer to England’s No. 5 Jonny Bairstow in Birmingham that took the glove and flew through to wicketkeeper Peter Nevill.
“But on the field, I think that’s fair game…”
Johnson has become the Australian all English spectators love to jeer, ever since his occasionally hapless performances when Andrew Strauss’ tourists won the Ashes down under for the first time in a generation in 2010/11. They looked equally as shell-shocked as we looked at Lord’s.
Left-arm spinner Agar only played two Tests before being dropped after going wicketless Lord’s but he is now out in India with Australia’s A side, showing that he remains on their radar – and he’s keeping a close eye on the Ashes from there.
“We fully expect Australia to come back hard, if not harder, and this is going to go right to the wire”, Bell said.
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Broad and his team-mates are keen to build on last week’s emphatic victory at Edgbaston and added: “It’s about resetting our minds again this week, it’s going to be a slightly different attack with (James Anderson) missing out, but it’s about making sure we are right on the money”.
