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England have picked a 13 man squad for the 3 match series, starting at Southampton (Ageas Bowl) on Wednesday. Dom Bess is their lone spinner, If selected, & they have confirmed the top 4 batting places, Burns Sibley, Crawley & Denly. Root should replace either Crawley or Denly in the 2nd Test. Undecided whether Pope will bat ahead of Stokes, with the later taking over the captaincy. Butler will remain as keeper, with Bairstow & Ali not included among 9 other reserves, both expected to be named in the coming days in a white ball squad. That only leaves the decision on the bowlers. Rumours are that some sort of rotation will take place, but I would doubt that they wont look to far away from Anderson , Broad & Archer, more than likely a spinner. With Woakes, & Wood waiting for opportunities. No place in the squad for Sam Curran surprisingly.
What sort of form are the West Indies in Test level???? I would say there has been something of a intensive rebuilding job over the last few years.
^^ They last played in late August 2019 & lost 2-0 away to India. Heavy defeats, 318 & 257 runs. Bowling attack will be competitive, but the batting not great.
Both teams are going lack match fitness.
England do have options. Pope could keep wicket or he could open if needed and they could bring in Ali if they want a more experienced 2nd spinner.
Mo Ali is at the back of the queue for now behind Bess & Leach, might have been a different story had there been some county form to back up a return, same applies to Bairstow. Ed Smith has said both will feature in the white ball stuff. Pope could be a decent keeper, doesn't een do the role for his county, only if Foakes is unavailable, who is Butlers back-up.
Ali is the best spinner on that ground though, i would have him as a batsman and a 2nd spin option with this cold cloudy weather you are only going to need one main spinner, being a somerset member i have see a lot of Bess & Leach , Leach is defiantly the best spinner of the 3 with Bess not that different to Ali but Ali the better batsman
Ali certainly needs to get back in the Test side asap, this could be the last throw of the dice for him, but he could still have 3 to 5 years if he wants it enough. Bess will push him either way. He looked out of his depth when he made his debut, but has worked really hard on his game. He's hungry to play, hats off to him for getting some cricket at my county Yorkshire. Easy taking wickets at Taunton when they frigged the wickets, but Leeds doesn't turn that much during a 4 day match & I was really impressed with his control, even in the 1st innings. I think he become more patient, earlier in his career he was trying to take a wicket with every ball. I love his spirit. Mo Ali is such a wasted talent with the bat, one of the most naturally gifted batman I've seen. I think that Leach's heroics with the bat have been a distraction for him, he's got the most experience at county level & knows exactly what he's trying to do. Ali has almost had to learn his trade a Test level & done a pretty good job of it, at his best he spins it more than both the Somerset lads.
Southampton is a decent batting track, so if the new ball fails the single spinner could have a fair amount of work to do.
Start delayed due to rain
Looking like Stuart Broad is going to miss out this match, he will not be happy.
^^ would expect him back at the next match as manchester will suit his style more,
from the little i have seen so far i think the pitch today looks like its going to need the fastest blowers on it to get the most out of it, so looks the correct call,
more surprised to see Bess as the spinner he would have been my 3rd choice
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