England name unchanged playing XI for third and final Test against the West Indies
England have named an unchanged playing XI for the upcoming third and final Test against the West Indies, scheduled to begin on July 26 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. As a result, the likes of Matthew Potts and Dillon Pennington will go the entire series without an appearance, despite England having already claimed an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
The playing XI also confirms Ben Duckett's participation. Dan Lawrence was kept as a stand-by option as the opening batter was awaiting the birth of his child. Duckett ended up leaving the squad after the win at Trent Bridge and was blessed with a baby girl on Tuesday, July 24.
Despite his newborn being only a few days old, he has made himself available for selection and will continue to open the batting alongside Zak Crawley.
England will look to execute a clinical whitewash and continue their rapid rise in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings. The home season was viewed as an excellent avenue for the side to accumulate points after a shaky first half of the WTC cycle.
The Ben Stokes-led side were placed last in the standings ahead of the series, and have already climbed up to the sixth spot on the back of the consecutive wins. They also have a home series against Sri Lanka lined up in August.
England playing XI for the third Test against West Indies
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, and Shoaib Bashir.
"We want to be as ruthless as we can as a batting unit" - England vice-captain Ollie Pope
The ongoing series has been crucial for England in more ways than one. Firstly, it marked the transition into the new fast bowling group following James Anderson's retirement after the first Test at Lord's.
Furthermore, it witnessed Jamie Smith being integrated into the red-ball setup as England look to move on from Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes.
"There’s a real hunger - there always is a hunger - but now there's an extra bit in that batting line-up. We want to be as ruthless as we can as a batting unit, but still play the way we do because that's our natural game. Obviously being ruthless is being part of Test cricket as well,” Pope said ahead of the third Test.
While England have put out an unchanged XI, West Indies have had to make a slight alteration to their squad. Jeremiah Louis has been ruled out of the final Test due to an injury and has been replaced by Akeem Jordan.