Follow UsEngland's playing XI has suffered a body blow going into the last and decisive Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, as they made four changes with the series being 2-1.
The biggest change of the lot is that skipper Ben Stokes will be sitting out of the Oval Test due to a bicep tendon injury. This is a big impediment for England, as Stokes is the leading wicket-taker of the series, and has shown some great signs of batting form in the Manchester Test as well, with a hundred. Number three batter Ollie Pope will be the skipper in his absence. Jacob Bethell has been slotted to bat at number six as well.
Apart from Stokes, England also kept out Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse to manage their workloads. Archer returned to Test cricket after a long hiatus at Lord's and played the Manchester Test as well. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Liam Dawson has been left out of the Oval Test to bring in a pacer instead.
England are going with an all-pace bowling attack strategy at the Oval, as the two pacers and the one spinner have been replaced by three pacers: Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue, and Gus Atkinson. Chris Woakes is the only surviving member of the bowling attack.
England are leading 2-1 in the series after winning the first and third Tests, and since the fourth Test was a draw, they can't lose the series from here.
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope ( c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue