Mark Wood vying with Stuart Broad in final selection call for bowling attack at Edgbaston
England captain Ben Stokes bowls during a training session at Edgbaston in Birmingham ahead of the first Ashes Test against Australia on Friday. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty ImagesBen Stokes is pushing hard to fulfil his pledge of bowling in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Friday, with the England captain to decide whether to hit Australia with the pace of Mark Wood or the experience of Stuart Broad.
Stokes has been stepping up his return to the dual role of all-rounder, sending down roughly 12 balls in the middle during a training session on Tuesday as he seeks to overcome the chronic left knee tendonitis that has restricted him this year. With Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson expected to come back and share the new ball after missing the Ireland Test with niggles – and high temperatures in Birmingham likely to necessitate a spinner in the returning Moeen Ali – the final selection call appears a choice between either Wood or Broad.
How much Stokes is able to bowl may dictate this, with Wood’s pace deployed in shorter spells and Broad, though 36, potentially offering more overs. Facing an Australia side buoyant after becoming World Test champions, as well as victorious at Edgbaston four years ago, it may well set the tone.
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