Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the third Ashes Test vs Australia at Headingley with a shoulder injury; Harry Brook could now bat at No 3, while Moeen Ali is likely to return from injury; watch the third Test live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday (11am start)
Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:21, UK
England are strongly considering moving Harry Brook up the batting order to No 3 for the third Ashes Test against Australia at Headingley, live on Sky Sports.
Ollie Pope's series has been ended by the dislocated shoulder he suffered during last week's 43-run defeat at Lord's, a result which leaves England 2-0 down in the five-match contest.
It now appears Brook is likely to take Pope's place at No 3 in the order for the third Test - starting in Leeds on Thursday - which could see Dan Lawrence fail to make the team again.
Moeen Ali is likely to return from injury, while bowlers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are in line to come in for James Anderson and Josh Tongue.
Moeen's inclusion would give England a frontline spinner, with the 36-year-old sitting out the second Test at Lord's as the hosts picked an all-seam frontline attack of Anderson, Tongue, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Ben Stokes, supported by Joe Root's part-time off-spin.
Wood would provide the speed in Leeds should he make his first Test appearance since the final game of the 3-0 sweep in Pakistan in December.
England wanted to select Wood at Lord's but decided he needed extra time to reach full fitness with Tongue given an Ashes debut instead.
Woakes would be playing his first Test since the tour of West Indies in March 2022 and first at home since September 2021.
Joe Root feels it is time to move on from Jonny Bairstow's controversial dismissal in the second Test at Lord's and focus on England playing their best cricket to keep their slim hopes of regaining the Ashes alive.
England head into the third Test at Headingley 2-0 down and needing to win in order to keep the series as a contest but former captain Root feels the side are more than up to the challenge.
Despite much of the focus in the build-up being on Bairstow's dismissal at the hands of Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey, Root believes it is time for all involved to move on and begin concentrating on the action still to come.
"I think it's time for everyone to move on and we can concentrate on this game now," said Root.
"We've got to play well for three games and we've shown in our recent form, that we're more than capable of doing that."
Scott Boland is on the verge of being recalled for the third Test at Headingley after Pat Cummins indicated fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood may be rested following back-to-back Tests.
Spinner Todd Murphy looks certain to make his Ashes debut in place of the injured Nathan Lyon.
"Nathan isn't available, so you'd think 'Murph' would pretty much come straight in," Cummins said.
He told Australian media Hazlewood was a player they needed to be "careful" with.
"The tour so far has gone as well as he could have hoped - no injuries, but he is kind of in uncharted territory for the last year or two. I think there will be some conversation around that," he said.
"You don't want to put anyone in higher risk than you'd like knowing that there's a couple of fresh guys on the bench that can come straight in."
He continued: "We are super confident with either Scotty [Boland] or 'Nes' [Michael Neser] that they'd do a super job.
"We have to have a look at the wicket but I think Scotty would be the obvious one."
Watch the crucial third Test of this summer's men's Ashes series live on Sky Sports Cricket from Thursday July 6. Coverage from Headingley starts from 10am with the first ball at 11am. Also stream this summer's men's and women's Ashes series on NOW TV.
