England selection squeeze on again for Pakistan Tests

The game of musical chairs being played by England's Test seamers in 2020 looks set to continue this week, with six fast men seemingly vying for three spots for the opening Test against Pakistan.

A week after securing a series win over West Indies, England have now turned their attention to the three Tests against Pakistan, the first of which starts at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Stuart Broad's axing for the first Test against the Windies, and his triumphant return for the rest of the series, underlined the conundrum facing England selectors, who are trying to keep their seamers fresh through a jam-packed summer schedule.

Having picked four fast men for the third Test against the Windies, the apparent return to fitness of allrounder Ben Stokes this week will likely see the hosts revert to picking just three seamers in Manchester.

Stokes was picked as a batsman only last week due to a quad injury but bowled in the nets on Monday and appears on track to be available to bowl against Pakistan.

That would likely see Zak Crawley return to strengthen the batting line-up, which in turn could see one of Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Chris Woakes or Jofra Archer left out.

And that's not to mention the pace reinforcements already on the sidelines; left-armer Sam Curran, who has never lost a Test on English soil, and speedster Mark Wood, who took a match-winning nine-wicket haul two Tests ago.

Broad's axing and stunning return to the Test side last month, which included his 500th Test wicket, somewhat overshadowed the performance of Woakes, who was also left out for the opening match of the series.

The right-armer took 11 wickets in the next two Tests and with an average of 22.53 in matches at home (since his debut, only Anderson and Pat Cummins have a lower overall average in the UK), he's pushing hard for retention this week.

"I hope I've done enough to be in that starting XI, but competition is high at the minute," Woakes said.

"We've got still two of England's greats charging in and taking wickets every time they play and we've got exciting fast bowlers as well. It's not an easy team to be cemented in.

"My record in England is brilliant. I'm obviously pleased with that. I want to keep getting better, improving myself.

"If I'm selected then great, but if not I'll get myself ready for whenever the next game is.”

Another option for England would be to drop spinner Dom Bess, who didn't bowl at all in the third Test, and maintain four frontline seamers.

However, the suggestions from Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq that the tourists may pick two spinners in their side – Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan – indicates Bess will have a role to play this week.

Boosting Woakes' case to stay in the side is his impressive record against Pakistan; the right-armer's first major impact at Test level came in the 2016 campaign against the Asian nation, when he took 11 wickets in the opening Test at Lord's on his way to 23 for the series.

Overall, he has 30 wickets at just 17 in five Tests against them.

"That was a real big turning point for me, 2016," he said.

"I found a bit of rhythm, got the ball moving in the air and bowled at decent pace that summer.

"Thankfully that went really well. So hopefully I can draw on those memories for this series coming up."