Alastair Cook is ready to throw Steven Finn into his first Test match for two years – and 18 months after he was deemed unselectable – in Wednesday’s pivotal Ashes encounter at Edgbaston after admitting the fitness of Mark Wood has become a concern.
With the series locked at one apiece following Australia’s 405-run win in the second Test at Lord’s – a result Cook labelled an “absolute disaster” – Finn is expected to replace the fast bowler Wood, who manages discomfort in his left ankle and has shown signs of fatigue since making his England debut at the start of the summer.
“We are a little concerned about Woody,” said the England captain on Tuesday. “If he is out then with the [weather] forecast, probably Steven Finn will be pushing to play. Wood has played a huge amount of cricket over the last six to eight months so we have to be careful with him. Finn has bowled really well for Middlesex and in the one-dayers recently; whoever gets the call will be the lucky one.”
The last of Finn’s 23 caps in the longest format came in the opening Test of the 2013 Ashes at Trent Bridge, before he was flown home early from the tour of Australia the following winter after suffering a breakdown in his bowling action that saw the then one-day coach Ashley Giles label him “unselectable”.
The 26-year-old, who made his international return in one-day cricket last summer and has taken 31 first-class wickets this season, will be the second of two changes from the defeat at Lord’s, along with Jonny Bairstow, who comes in at No5.
“If I do play it will be like making another debut in some ways,” said Finn, speaking at the start of the series. “I had a tricky period and that is a long way in the past. I’m selectable again.
“The term sounded derogatory but I don’t think it was. That was the bottom line. To be told that and come home from a series was tough to take. But I feel as though I’m stronger for that experience.”
While Wood was not fully ruled out of contention for the third Test, England always intended to be mindful of the right-armer’s workload given his lack of cricket in an injury-troubled start to his professional career. The 25-year-old has played only 28 first-class matches to date but his record at Trent Bridge, the venue for the fourth Test that follows four days after Edgbaston, is strong, having taken 15 wickets in his three County Championship games there for Durham.
A more pressing worry for Cook is the repeated failure of his top order this year, with Ian Bell now pushed up to No3 in place of Gary Ballance and Bairstow slotting in below Joe Root. Bell has averaged just 28 since his man-of-the-series performance in 2013 and sees the continuation of his Test career under increased scrutiny. “You’re always playing for your place. In any international team there’s a huge pool of talent, good players who want to take your spot,” said Cook. “But Belly has scored a huge amount of runs for England, over 7,000 [in Test cricket], with 22 hundreds. Not many people have done that and he’s got to remember that.”
Asked if Australia’s fast bowlers – and in particular Mitchell Johnson – had an edge over his batsmen following the collapse to 103 all out in the second innings at Lord’s, Cook replied: “No, I don’t think so. They bowled very well, but it’s the same attack where we scored runs quickly at Cardiff. It’s 1-1, a three-match series now and we need to win two games to do something very special. That’s what is keeping everyone going.”
The Australia captain, Michael Clarke, is expected to name an unchanged side, with Chris Rogers returning to training in the last two days after suffering a dizzy spell in the second Test and the wicketkeeper Peter Nevill now the confirmed first choice behind the stumps after Brad Haddin missed out at Lord’s due to family problems.
Asked about England’s problems in the top order, Clarke talked up the abilities of Bell but admitted a rookie player like Adam Lyth, playing only his fifth Test on Wednesday, will be feeling the heat after scoring just 50 runs in four innings this series.
“Belly’s been a class player for a long period of time, he’s played a lot of cricket so I don’t think it will bother him too much moving up to No3,” said Clarke. “ He is such a great player. But Lyth might feel a little bit more pressure because obviously he hasn’t played as much Test cricket as someone like Bell.”
On Bairstow, who earned his recall after averaging 108.88 for Yorkshire this summer, Clarke added: “I would hope the attack he’s about to face is a little bit different to what he’s faced in county cricket.”
