Ollie Pope injured his shoulder while fielding at Lord’s and it has currently not been confirmed whether he will be fit to play at Headingley.
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While Pope was fit to bat in England’s first innings during the second Test, he had spent considerable time off the field beforehand, after he landed awkwardly on his shoulder while retrieving the ball. He then once again fell heavily on his shoulder in the second innings and went off the field once more. He came out to bat when needed in England’s chase, but was quickly undone by a scorching delivery from Mitchell Starc.
With no confirmation as of yet on Pope’s injury status and the ramifications for a tight turnaround before the third Test, here are the most likely routes England could take to replace him if he is unable to play.
Dan Lawrence
Dan Lawrence is the designated spare batter in England’s squad and has batted in every position from three to seven for England in Tests. Having not been selected in either of the first two matches of the series, Lawrence was released to play in the T20 Blast and County Championship for Essex. He made 152 batting at four last week in Division One against Warwickshire, where he shared a 2oo-run third wicket partnership with Tom Westley. He also scored 7o off 33 balls in the T20 Blast two days before that Championship match.
Lawrence hasn’t played a Test match since March 2022 against the West Indies. He was, however, included in England’s squad which toured New Zealand earlier this year. While he is a natural middle-order batter who also gives the option of some off-spin, he batted at three for England twice on their 2021 tour of India.
Ben Foakes
If Pope is for Headingley, the Ben Foakes debate will return with vigour. As ever, if England are to fit Foakes into the side, they will need to do something funky. Foakes has to bat in the lower-middle order, so one of England’s middle-order will have to move up to No.3.
One of them can be Ben Stokes himself. Given that Stokes bowled 15 overs across the second Test match, his reduced responsibility with the ball could be evened out by more with the bat. However, Stokes looked in considerable pain at points while batting in the second innings at Lord’s, and giving him optimal time between innings to recover may be prioritised.
The other option is Bairstow at No.3. Without having to keep wicket, Bairstow’s legs will be fresher and require less recovery time when it comes to batting. He has batter at one-drop seven times in Test cricket, most recently in India where he registered three ducks in four innings in the position.
A more plausible option might be to move Joe Root up to three, where he has batted in 33 of his 132 Tests and put one of Bairstow, Stokes or Lawrence at four.
Alex Lees
The most realistic option that England have at their disposal, however, is to move either Zak Crawley or Ben Duckett down to three and bring in an outsider to open. Both Duckett and Crawley have significant experience batting at three, while Alex Lees has been making a strong case for a recall in the County Championship.
Lees scored two centuries in the same match against Leicestershire last week, and is averaging 53.76 in first-class cricket this year. He has also been scoring his runs quickly, striking at 70.60 for Durham.
Other possibilities
The more remote options for England to choose from to makeup their XI include playing a spinner and five seamers in their attack.
If Moeen Ali’s finger has healed well enough to play at Headingley, he may come in and bat at seven, with one of Stokes or Root moving up to three. If Moeen’s finger does not allow him to play, it will be unlikely of England to include Rehan Ahmed among four seamers, given how much extra responsibility that would play on the 18-year-old with the bat.
