England are all set to take on West Indies in a three-match home series before hosting Sri Lanka for an additional three Tests. Several of their players likely to be involved across the Test summer have been in action in the latest two rounds of the County Championship.
Here’s how they and other players in contention for Test spots have been doing.
Ben Stokes – Durham
56 & 26 and 1-23 & 2-70 v Worcestershire
After paltry returns of 2, 18 and 0 in his first three innings of the season, the England captain finally found some form with the bat, top-scoring for Durham in the first innings, and becoming one of only two batters to cross 20, before his defences were breached by one that kept low. He was in decent form with the ball, too – all three of his wickets being top-order batters.
Ollie Robinson – Durham
198 & 4 v Essex
35 & 9 v Worcestershire
England may have preferred Surrey’s Jamie Smith to Robinson as their keeper for the West Indies series but Robinson did his future selection prospects no harm after a blistering innings of 198 off 209 balls, which included 21 fours and 4 sixes, against title contenders Essex. His returns against Worcestershire were more modest, but he still continues to average north of 70 this season.
Matthew Potts – Durham
4-71 & 2-38 v Essex
4-29 & 0-51 v Worcestershire
The Durham and England pacer had two impressive outings, particularly against Essex at Chelmsford, where he took half of Durham's 12 wickets across both innings.
Jack Leach – Somerset
0-24 & 0-103 v Nottinghamshire
2-69 & 3-97 v Warwickshire
Leach had a quiet showing against Nottinghamshire, in which he did not manage to take a single wicket; however, he was much more impressive against Warwickshire, in his first game since England's squad announcement for the Test series against the West Indies, in which Shoaib Bashir was preferred ahead of him.
Shoaib Bashir – Worcestershire
2-162 v Surrey
Like most of his teammates, Bashir had a difficult outing against Surrey, as Worcestershire were trounced by an innings and 5 runs. Bashir was also taken for 38 in a single over, which saw Dan Lawrence hit him for 5 consecutive sixes.
Dan Lawrence – Surrey
175 and 3-49 & 1-61 v Worcestershire
6 & 10 and 0-1 & 0-4 v Essex
Lawrence smashed 16 fours and 6 sixes in his belligerent innings of 175 against Worcestershire. He also took 4 wickets in the same game, putting on display his all-around capabilities. His returns were more modest, however, in his last outing before the West Indies series, against Essex.
Ollie Pope – Surrey
14 v Worcestershire
England's red-ball vice-captain only managed 14 before being dismissed by Ben Allison.
Jamie Smith – Surrey
86 v Worcestershire
100 & 70 v Essex
England's keeper for the West Indies series did his reputation as a destructive batter no harm. He smashed three quickfire fifties in succession, converting one of them into a first-innings century against a strong Essex bowling attack. He did not take the gloves in either game, though.
Ben Foakes – Surrey
52 and 5c/0s & 2c/0s v Worcestershire
7 & 13 and 0c/0s & 4c/0s v Essex
Foakes had a middling time with the bat in Surrey's last two games. He was, however, expectedly outstanding with the gloves, taking 11 catches across the two games.
Gus Atkinson – Surrey
2-39 & 1-26 v Worcestershire
Atkinson took three top-order wickets against Worcestershire, dismissing their star batter Kashif Ali in both innings, as Surrey won by an innings.
Chris Woakes – Warwickshire
6 & 2 and 1-36 & 0-49 v Hampshire
39 & 0 and 0-53 & 0-82 v Somerset
The England all-rounder had a quiet couple of games, in which he only managed a double-digit score once and took the solitary wicket of bowler Kyle Abbott. With James Anderson playing his final game for England next week, Woakes' form will be of particular interest for England.
James Anderson – Lancashire
7-35 & 1-29 v Nottinghamshire
England's greatest-ever fast bowler was magnificent against Nottinghamshire – so much so that one can only wonder why he's playing his final Test next week. He took six new-ball wickets as Lancashire reduced Nottinghamshire to 40-6 in their first innings, later taking a seventh in the innings to play a monumental role in bundling them out for 126.
Dillon Pennington – Nottinghamshire
5-96 v Somerset
2-70 v Lancashire
The Shrewsbury-born pacer had two solid outings, taking seven wickets in two innings in difficult bowling conditions, which could see him get the nod to make his England debut next week.
Keaton Jennings – Lancashire
0 v Kent
187* v Nottinghamshire
After a rare failure against Kent, Jennings continued his excellent form this season with an unbeaten 187 against Nottinghamshire, making him the highest-scoring English batter in division one this season.
Ollie Robinson – Sussex
3-36 & 2-105 v Leicestershire
4-42 & 2-30 v Northamptonshire
Robinson's stock seems to have fallen in recent months, as he has dropped lower down in the pecking order and seems to be out of the England reckoning for the time being. He was taken for 43 in a single over by Louis Kimber in the most astonishing innings of the season. Robinson did, however, respond strongly, taking six against Northamptonshire as Sussex completed a 63-run victory against them.
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