England unchanged as they aim for West Indies clean sweep
Cricket
England have named an unchanged side for the third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston.
BIRMINGHAM (United Kingdom) (AFP) – England have named an unchanged side for the third Test at Edgbaston as they target a series clean sweep of the West Indies.
Ben Stokes's men won the second Test -- their first since the retirement of England great James Anderson -- at Trent Bridge by a crushing 241 runs after the West Indies collapsed against the spin of Shoaib Bashir.
Victory gave England an unassailable 2-0 lead in a three-match campaign.
And on the back of such a convincing success, which secured England's first Test series victory since 2022, Stokes felt no need to change a winning team.
"Well, 2-0 up, with very good all-round team performances so, yeah, it's a pretty easy decision to stick with the same XI," England captain Stokes told a pre-match press conference at Edgbaston on Thursday.
"And, yeah, we want to wrap up a series and hopefully take it 3-0."
But the England captain bridled at suggestions he wanted his team to continue to be "ruthless", saying: "Ruthless is always a word that I think is just based on outcome. But, yeah, we want to win 3-0."
England fast bowler Mark Wood surpassed speeds of 97 mph (156 kmh) at Trent Bridge.
The Durham quick's career has been blighted by injuries but Stokes said England had given little thought to rotating their attack at Edgbaston by bringing in Nottinghamshire paceman Dillon Pennington for a Test debut.
Instead, he suggested Pennington could feature in a three-Test series at home to Sri Lanka starting late next month.
"I think that will come naturally," said Stokes.
"You know, we've got six Test matches (this season), even though we've got a decent break, but there's the Hundred to be played in between that.
"Fast bowling is very hard. I think naturally we may see, you know, a change in the bowling line-up, but no, that's not required yet."
WOOD 'GOOD TO GO'
As for Durham team-mate Wood's fitness, Stokes said: "You always check in with your bowlers after every Test match and you go with what they say, what they feel.
"And he's ready, firing and good to go again.
Stokes added: "Because of how he bowls, it's very unlikely that you're going to get all the remaining Test matches out of him just because of how hard it is on his body, sort of compared to everyone else.
"Not that it's any easier for guys who don't bowl 97 miles an hour, but you need to look after guys like that."
Stokes was able to perform as a fully-fledged all-rounder at Trent Bridge, bowling his lively medium pace following knee surgery
"Although it's only one more option, I felt as if I've had way more than that," said Stokes.
He added: "Woody didn't get the rewards he should have done last week.
"But I think the partnership he worked with Bash (Bashir) at the other end, that's where the wickets came from.
"I think Woody does know how much he affects the game, even if he's not getting the wickets in the column, because there's just a different feel whenever he comes on to bowl a spell."
England team for third Test:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir
