England captain Joe Root is confident Jofra Archer will be ready to play in the third round against the West Indies but said there was a question mark about Ben Stokes’ ability to play.
Root said that Archer, who was eliminated from the second test after breaking the biological safety bubble, had been shot in the nets and in good spirits as England prepared for the decisive test at Old Trafford, which begins on Friday.
However, Stokes was struggling with stiffness after his heroic efforts to help England win the second test.
Root said that while Stokes would play, he could not contribute much with the ball.
Root also criticized the racist abuse Archer has faced on social media and said at a press conference on Thursday that he had seen some of it and that it was “gross.”
We have named our squad for the #raisethebat Decide test series against @windiescricket ?
– England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 23, 2020
Stokes has been struggling with a quadriceps injury and will be evaluated before the start of Friday’s game.
There was no chance that the match would be lost, Root insisted, but any doubts about his ability to bowling would influence the team’s selection.
“He spent much of the last test on the field, but it takes a lot to keep him low and out of the action,” said Root.
“We will see how it is in the morning, but if you look at our team we have many brilliant options to choose from. Any combination we have is obviously capable of taking 20 wickets.”
England has used six bowlers in the first two tests and are expected to rotate again as they seek to keep them fresh with three more tests against Pakistan in quick succession.
That means a possible return for Archer after he has run out of the second test.
His participation in the third test had been in doubt, as he admitted that he was mentally struggling after being racially abused on social media by having to spend five days in isolation as a result of leaving the biosafety environment.
However, Root said that Archer had looked good in training.
“He has regained his smile and thrown speed and line on some spicy nets in the past two days, which was not much fun for our hitters.”
“But it was unpleasant, actually, to see some of the abuse he had to endure in the past week.
14-man England squad for the third test: Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
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