Ben Stokes has said that Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes will take the new ball for England against West Indies in the first Test of the post-James Anderson era.
Speaking a day out from the second Test at Trent Bridge, Stokes confirmed that Atkinson, who took 12 wickets on debut at Lord’s, would partner Woakes to complete England’s new, new-ball duo.
Tomorrow’s Test is the first on home soil since 2012 to feature neither Anderson nor Stuart Broad and just the second since 2007.
“I said last week that when I first saw Gus [Atkinson] live in the World Cup in India, he just had all the attributes of a very, very good bowler,” Stokes said to the press in Nottingham.
“A lot of it has to do with the Dukes ball, 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.”
Mark Wood has returned to the XI after being rested from the squad for the first Test in what is England’s only change to the team following Anderson’s retirement.
His selection means that Dillon Pennington’s wait for a debut goes on, with many having predicted that he would make his first appearance for England this week on his home ground for Nottinghamshire.
“We consider everyone in the squad,” Stokes said of whether Pennington had been in contention. “No one is in the squad for a jolly. When you get someone like Woody back into the squad, it’s too hard to look past that. Look at the summer he had last year, the impact he had, and he’s one of our best bowlers. There will be opportunities for Dillon no doubt in the summer, but at this moment in time Woody makes it into our strongest XI.”
Chris Woakes is set to make his 50th Test appearance for England. Woakes was named Player of the Series in last year’s Ashes, but did not tour to India for the Tests earlier this year.
England are proactively looking to the future in their selections, as shown by Anderson’s enforced retirement being a result of Stokes and McCullum’s belief that the 41-year-old would not be able to make it to next year’s away Ashes. As a result, there have been some questions raised over the 35-year-old Woakes’ role in the team, but captain Stokes has backed him to carry on getting better with age in the same way Anderson and Broad did.
“Fifty caps is a huge honour,” said Stokes. “We were saying the other day how much Stuart and Jimmy improved as they got older. If he is taking that mindset into wanting to always improve as he gets older and older.
“I see [Anderson’s absence] as an opportunity for someone like Chris Woakes to take on more of a leadership role in the bowling unit.
“Woakesy is a very experienced bowler, a very experienced player. We've been so used to Jimmy and Broady doing that so it's a great opportunity for him. A phenomenal performer, particularly in England. So it’s great for him to be able to lead the attack.”
England could still make one change to their XI, with opener Ben Duckett expecting his first child with his fiancee.
“There's a plan in place for Ben and his partner,” Stokes said. “We'll just have to make a decision if it was to happen before the game started. If anything happens throughout the Test match Ben will just go and come back into the team. He's obviously desperate to play at his home ground but the message from me and Baz [McCullum] is family always comes first.”
