James Anderson will return to England’s XI in place of Jamie Overton for tomorrow’s Test against India at Edgbaston – but Ben Foakes has been ruled out.
Ben Stokes confirmed his team for the Test, which completes a series from last summer that was called off due to Covid-19 in the India camp. India lead 2-1.
England are in confident mood having beaten New Zealand 3-0 in their first series under captain Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum.
Foakes has been replaced by Sam Billings in the XI, having failed to overcome Covid. He tested positive on Saturday, with Billings coming in as a substitute.
Foakes trained over the last couple of days, but Stokes said England “took the decision out of his hands” because he was still not feeling quite right.
Stokes said England did not want to give the gloves to Jonny Bairstow, because he is England’s “best middle-order batter” right now.
Overton made his debut last week, and bowled pretty well, taking two key wickets and hitting Devon Conway on the head, but batted even better, making a memorable 97 to help England recover from 55 for six to 360 all out.
He shared a rapid, record-breaking partnership for the eighth wicket with Jonny Bairstow, who is in the midst of a golden run of form.
But despite Stuart Broad being a little leggy after playing all three Tests this summer, Overton misses out as Anderson returns from a right ankle injury to lead the attack.
India have concerns of their own, with captain Rohit Sharma appearing to be losing his race to recover from Covid in time to play the game.
Meanwhile, England are set to unveil Jos Buttler as their new white-ball captain this afternoon, replacing Eoin Morgan, who retired this week.
