Ben Stokes to have fitness test before start of play to assess bowling readiness

Ben Stokes will have a fitness test before the match to decide if he can resume his allrounder’s role leaving Joe Root facing the hardest selection call of his captaincy as England weigh up their fast bowling options.

Stokes was unable to prove his fitness on Tuesday due to rain in Manchester preventing England from training outdoors, complicating preparations to play Pakistan in the first Test of a three match series.

Instead Stokes will bowl in the nets this morning to test out the quad injury that restricted him to a specialist batting role in the final Test against West Indies last week.

Stokes bowled two overs in the middle with a coach in Manchester on Monday and 18 balls in the nets at three quarters of his normal pace. If he has not improved then England will not risk him as the fourth seamer and are likely to pick the same XI, again leaving out batsman Zak Crawley to accommodate a fifth specialist bowler.

But if Stokes proves he is capable of bowling the long spells that were so important in England’s series levelling win over West Indies two weeks ago then Root will have to choose which seamer to leave out.

England could leave out Dom Bess but will want a specialist spinner with hot weather forecast for the weekend and to balance the attack. Chris Woakes goes into the match on the back of a five for 50 against West Indies and Root confirmed that Stuart Broad will play. He also reiterated that he wants one of the genuine fast bowlers in his attack with Jofra Archer or Mark Wood in the side.

It means that James Anderson could be left out on his home ground or Woakes dropped after a five wicket haul if Stokes is fit. Anderson is 11 wickets short of 600 in Tests and with this being the last match of the summer at Emirates Old Trafford, he will be desperate to play.

“We still need to know a little bit more about where Ben’s at. Because of the weather on Tuesday unfortunately he wasn’t able to bowl outside so we will probably have to wait on that and make a decision in the morning,” said Root.

“We were forced into making a slight change in terms of the balance of the side with Ben unable to bowl in the last game. To know that works and that we have had success with it does fill everyone with a lot of confidence. Of course Ben being able to do everything that he can do is huge for this team and it shows pivotal he is really in terms of the balance of the side. But if he’s not fit we have other options and different ways we can go.”

Anderson had a quiet two Tests against West Indies taking only five wickets but his control was immaculate, conceding runs at just 2.3 an over and Root will need that consistency against a better batting line up such as Pakistan’s.

“It's a really tough call but it's exciting when you look at the number of great players performing well at the moment, we can go into the game full of confidence as a player and as a team, you feel you have a really good chance of taking 20 wickets,” said Root. “Having played some competitive test cricket will serve us well. It will give us a bit of a head start. Having good success on this ground in two Test matches will fill our group with a huge amount of confidence.”

England have lost spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel for the final two Tests of the Pakistan series because his visa only allows him to work as a player in this country. Patel, who is from New Zealand, was due to join England in Southampton next week but will remain with Warwickshire instead.

Pakistan gave little away on Tuesday, naming a 14 man squad but have hinted they are keen to pick two spinners in Manchester, although that must be treated as a bit of kidology. The forecast for the first day is wet and it is the pace of the young quicks Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi alongside the skill of Mohammad Abass, who took eight for 64 at Lord’s in 2018, that is their best route to beating England.

“They are very talented," said Azhar Ali, the Pakistan captain. "They are not experienced as some other Pakistan bowling attacks from the past, but potentially they are right up there. They are ready. They have done really well, they have prepared really well. I am sure they will perform to their potential.”