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England captain Ben Stokes insists it was an “easy decision” to stick with an unchanged side as they look to seal a series whitewash in the third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston.
An unchanged XI means Nottinghamshire seamer Dillon Pennington’s wait for a Test debut goes on, while Matthew Potts also sits out.
Pennington has taken 31 wickets for Nottinghamshire in Vitality County Championship Division One this season – a total bettered by only three players.
England have already handed Test debuts to Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson in this series and Stokes says Pennington’s first cap will “naturally” come with the demands of Test cricket.
Mark Wood was forced out of the bowling line-up on day two at Trent Bridge due to fatigue, but the 34-year-old has been deemed fit enough to go again in Birmingham.
Stokes said: “Two-nil up and very good all-round team performances, pretty easy decision to stick with the same 11 and we want to wrap up the series and hopefully take it 3-0.
“That (Pennington’s inclusion) will come naturally with six Test matches, even though we have a decent break; fast bowling is hard so naturally we will see change in the bowling line up.
“It is tough not to play but for Potts and for Dillon it’s great for them to be in the squad – it’s tough but they work incredibly hard so if the opportunity comes around for either of them they will be ready to go.
“We’ve stuck with the same team for the first three games because we don’t feel a necessary opportunity to change.
“Though he (Pennington) hasn’t got the opportunity, we know how hard he works out in the middle, there’s no doubt an opportunity will come for him and he’ll be ready to go.”
Following knee surgery last year, Stokes is stepping up his duties as a full all-rounder and, after he bowled 12 overs in the first innings, the England captain felt he was not needed in the second as England tore through West Indies on day four.
He added: “I’m very happy, in a good place with my all-round abilities; being able to bowl is massive for me and I know it affects the make up of the team.
“I wasn’t required to bowl in the fourth innings just because of how well (Shoaib) Bashir bowled and the ball got reverse swinging quite nicely, when I looked at Woody and Gus, I thought those guys would win us the game because of reverse swing.
“Even though it’s only one option it feels like four or five more because I can manipulate the bowling attack a lot more and try use two guys at either end.”
