England have announced their 16-man squad for the third Test against India at Lord's, with Gus Atkinson's inclusion being the only change for the crunch game. Atkinson, who has taken 55 wickets in just 12 matches for England, has been one of the bowlers of the post-Anderson-Broad era and the hosts desperately missed his services in the first two matches. The announcement came minutes after England suffered a 336-run loss in the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, and it appears that Atkinson will be drafted straight into the XI.
With the trio of Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue playing back-to-back matches and visibly looking tired after bowling so many overs, a complete rotation of the pace attack is on the cards for England with all of Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton, Sam Cook and now Atkinson as well in the mix.
After two flat tracks were dished out in the first two matches, a bit more assistance is expected for the bowlers at Lord's, with the tracks traditionally being conducive to sideways movement, especially with the slope at the venue. 28 wickets fell in the first couple of days of the World Test Championship (WTC) final, but on the third day, with the sun coming out and the track getting drier, there were runs to be scored and South Africa sure did that.
England were beaten at their own game on a track they prepared to suit their style but India just out-batted and eventually out-bowled them at Edgbaston. Having the likes of Atkinson and Jofra Archer back will be a huge plus for England and will provide a couple of new dimensions to their attack as the hosts look to take the lead back once again.
England squad for Lord's Test against India: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Jamie Overton, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir, Sam Cook, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer
