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England squad (First 2 Tests)
Root ©
Anderson
Bairstow
Bess
Broad
Burns
Buttler
Crawley
S Curran
Hameed
Lawrence
Leach
Pope
Robinson
Sibley
Stokes
Wood

1st Test Trent Bridge - August 4 - 8

Not good preparation for an iconic Test Series, with no First Class cricket being played. After all the rest & rotation of the winter, England must have to try to get back to their strongest available side. Lets no forget, these issues carried over into the New Zealand Tests. where we lost the first home series for many years. The large squad probably reflects the covid situation & also some injury doubts. Ollie Popes fitness & form is a concern, so must be a doubt for the 1st Test at least. With 5 Test in a short space of time you'd expect changes to the bowling attack at least. Woakes would be someone who would feature later in the series if he is ruled fit. I always like an out an out pace bowler, but with just Mark Wood in the squad & the 1st two Tests back to back, wouldn't burn him out early in the series. I think we will need him more at Lords, where we struggle to win, & an impact bowler will be required. hopefully we can get away without a rapid bowler at Trent Bridge. Wood should come into his own at The Oval & Old Trafford the 4th & 5th Tests if he can manage the workload with a 4 day gap between games. Providing Skokes can get through 10 overs a day, I'd opt for 6 batsmen., otherwise, Sam Curran would come in & either Crawley or Hameed would miss out. So I'll give you my choice for the 1st Test, which, will more than likely not resemble the starting XI.

Boomers XI 1st Test
Burns
Hammed
Crawley
Root ©
Stokes
Bairstow
Buttler ©
Robinson
Broad
Leach
Anderson

If I'm being really honest, I'd rather see Root & Crawley swap, I still think Zac goes a bit hard too early to bat at 3, although in time he could even open. Bairstow still has the edge over Buttler, for me as a keeper, but I like him at six, where he has had successful partnerships with Stokes & Root.

The ECB has announced the Ben Stokes will take an indefinite break from all cricket with immediate effect, in order to prioritize his mental well being, & to rest his left index finger.

Craig Overton has been call up into the England Test Squad as cover for Stokes, not a replacement, you don't replace players like Ben Stokes.

I think with Stokes absence from the series, maybe Sam Curran would come in from the XI that I've gone with. maybe England have missed a trick, Craig Overton is in the same bracket as ollie Robinson, a bowler who is a useful batsman. I would've called Moeen Ali into the squad, not a direct replacement for Stokes, But at least he's a proven Test Match allrounder. I'm sure England want Leach as their spinner, with India likely to field more right-handed batsmen, but Ali would give us the batting depth that will be important against a strong India bowling attack. If Ali doesn't get selected in the Test side now, I fear that they will look elsewhere citing his age as a reason for his omission. He's far too talented to never play another Test & he looks happy & content at present.

Looks like Bairstow is in.
This should be a great test match.

England win toss and choose to bat first.
Bairstow and Curran in.
Leach out.

England's side is a reflection of their poor batting, in recent times, & the Stokes factor, with the issue of no genuine allrounder, & the difficulty of balancing the side. They've gone with 6 batsmen, & 4 bowlers, but no spinner. I would always want a spinner, this pitch turns in white ball cricket. I would leave out a batsman & play Leach. When you load your side with batsmen, nobody takes responsibility to get the runs, thinking somebody else will always make a score. This is a big risk, with Broad & Anderson closer to 40, than 30. Yes they are fit, but still more likely to pick up an injury, & then your down to 3 bowlers.

Root's a decent spin bowler if he's needed.

So England's batting isn't very good. :(Root is the only Test class batsman we have.