Former India batsman Wasim Jaffer has raised doubts and questions, and even the necessity, of the England team naming their playing XI a day before the upcoming Lord’s Test, which will be the second Test of the ongoing Ashes 2023 series.
24 hours before the start of the Lord’s Test on Wednesday, the Ben Stoked and Brendon McCullum-led unit announced one change in their playing XI from the side that lost the first Test at Edgbaston: pacer Josh Tongue replaces all-rounder and off-spinner Moeen Ali in the XI, and rest of the team remains same.
This means that England will go with an all-seam attack at Lord’s comprising Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, and James Anderson with Ben Stokes in support. Joe Root, who has grown as an off-spinner in the past couple of years, will be the lone spinner in the side, taking over the off-spinner’s role from Moeen Ali.
One of the reasons for this change is that the Lord’s surface had looked lush green a day before the start of the game.
25-year-old Josh Tongue will play his second career Test match. He had made his debut at the start of the summer, in the one-off Test match against Ireland where he impressed everyone with a second-innings five-wicket haul against the Irish at Lord’s, the venue for the second Ashes Test.
Wasim Jaffer unable to comprehend why England would announce their playing XI a day before the match
Wasim Jaffer took to Twitter to get answers to his query of why would England name their starting XI a day before the match. This, he asserted, would allow the opposition to get an eye on England’s tactics much before the toss. In the first Test as well, England had announced their XI two days before the match, and he feels this could give an advantage to Australia.
“What’s the benefit of announcing playing XI to the media a day or two before the test? Why reveal your plans to the opposition earlier than you have to.. Thoughts?,” Wasim Jaffer tweeted.
What's the benefit of announcing playing XI to the media a day or two before the test? Why reveal your plans to the opposition earlier than you have to.. Thoughts? #Ashes23
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 28, 2023
England’s Playing XI for Lord’s: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, James Anderson
Fans were also wondering why Mark Wood hasn’t played any of the two Tests yet. Ben Stokes answered that question by revealing that Wood, whose extra pace could trouble the likes of Travis Head, isn’t completely fit yet, and is likely to come in the third Test.
“We wanted to play Mark Wood,” Stokes said. “We felt that he could definitely start the game but with conversations, we felt the extra week with build-up and getting his loads up would give him a better chance and an opportunity to play a full part from Leeds onwards.
“And we brought Tonguey into the team as a like-for-like with Woody. We turned up here at Lord’s and saw there was quite a lot of grass on the wicket, a bit of green. Traditionally, Lord’s has offered more for the seamers and with how Mo’s finger was last week… we just thought we would get more out of our fourth bowler being Josh Tongue this week.”
