England have announced some major changes in their XI for the third Ashes Test, which begins at Headingley tomorrow (Thursday, July 6). Here’s a look at how the team lines up.

England will take the field in Leeds with a significantly different-looking XI than the one they had at Lord’s for the second Test.

The pace duo of James Anderson and Josh Tongue have been rested, making way for all-rounder Chris Woakes and the rapid Mark Wood. Anderson has not had the best of times in this series so far, having only taken three wickets in the first two Test matches at an average of 75.33.

In his column for The Telegraph, Anderson wrote how he was frustrated with his own performance and that this is a lean patch at the wrong time, but denied it was anything to do with his age. He said: “I cannot remember having two such quiet games in a row for at least the past 10 years.”

Tongue, who was impressive on his Ashes debut at Lord’s last week, has been replaced by Wood. The speedster wasn’t fit enough to be considered for the second Test which allowed Tongue to fit into the XI. Now that he is fit and available, he finds a direct entry to the side.

Given how flat the first two pitches in the series have been, England will be pleased to have Wood back. His inclusion will give them the edge of having the extra pace in their lineup, which can be especially useful if another docile, lifeless track is on offer in Leeds.

The third change that England have made to their XI is a forced one. Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the Ashes with a dislocated shoulder that will require surgery. England had the option of going to Dan Lawrence as a like-for-like replacement for Pope. Instead, they have opted to bring Moeen Ali back in.

Moeen played the first game of the series at Edgbaston. It was also his first first-class game in two years as he came out of Test retirement. However, the heavy workload in the first Test meant that he injured his bowling finger which kept him out of the second Test at Lord’s.

His finger injury seems to have healed completely now as he is back in the XI for the third Test. What this also means is that England now have an extra bowling option, with Moeen down to bat in the top seven in Leeds as opposed to Birmingham where he batted at No.8.

Harry Brook is set to make a jump from No.5 to No.3 to take over Pope’s place in the batting order. This will be the first time he will bat in the top four in his Test career, having played all nine of his Test matches so far at No.5 or No.6.

Although England have opted to go a specialist batter short for the third Test, they have effectively lengthened their batting order with the inclusions of Moeen and Woakes, who will bat at No.7 & 8 respectively.

England’s XI for the third Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood.

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