Jamie Overton recalled for England's series decider against India at the Oval
Having been in pole position to move into an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, England were only able to take four wickets in India's second innings and two were in the first five balls.
Captain Ben Stokes hinted 'fresh legs' in the bowling might be needed, with Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse playing all four Tests and having sent down an onerous 167 and 155 overs respectively so far.
Jofra Archer has also played back-to-back Tests following a four-year absence, with Overton joining fellow seamers Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue in pushing for a spot in England's XI.
While Stokes considers himself 'very unlikely' to miss out in south London on Thursday, despite a sore left leg and right bicep tendon, the tight turnaround between matches means changes seem likely.
Stokes said on Sunday: 'These recovery days are going to be pretty important and we might have to make a few decisions to get some fresh legs in. That won't be decided until we get closer to the last game.'
We've made one addition to our squad for the 5th Rothesay Test, which starts at the Kia Oval on Thursday.
See the squad 👇
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 28, 2025
Overton made his lone Test appearance in England's first series under Stokes and Brendon McCullum against New Zealand in 2022, thumping 97 and taking two wickets at Headingley in an important win.
He has been on the fringes since then, with a back injury restricting his red-ball availability, although he has been a regular in England's limited-overs sides since last winter.
Tongue featured in the first two Tests of the series and took 11 wickets but was expensive.
Atkinson, meanwhile, has not played a first-class match since that one-off Zimbabwe Test in late May after suffering a hamstring injury and he was not risked to make a comeback in Manchester.
Atkinson – who has claimed 55 wickets in his first dozen Test appearances – turned out for Surrey's second XI against Somerset last week and could make a long-awaited England return on his home ground.
Liam Dawson looks set to be retained as England's frontline spinner despite failing to make an impact on a flat day five pitch at the weekend, offering control but not a consistent wicket-taking threat.
Dawson, who featured in a Test for the first time in eight years, had footholes to exploit left-handers Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, who made an unbeaten hundred, but could not take advantage.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
England and India deserve better - this box-office series is hobbling over the line while money men count their corn, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH
It says everything about a packed schedule, and even more about the state of England's Test pitches, that Ben Stokes and his team were lying low at their hotel in Kensington only 48 hours before the start of their biggest game since the 2023 Ashes. There was no training, no team announcement, no press-conference mind games ahead of a match that could deliver the most impressive series win of the Bazball era. Instead, the players were knackered, driven to exhaustion by administrators who have concertinaed the summer to keep August free for the Hundred, and by surfaces which have been 'kryptonite' to England's wearyseamers, as the former Test star Steve Harmison put it following the draw in Manchester. The irony as we await the toss at 10.30am on Thursday is that whoever wins it may feel obliged to bowl. You have to go back to April 2023, when Hampshire's James Vince said 'we'll have a bat', to find a red-ball captain at the Oval who bucked the trend. Since then, 20 matches — both county and Test — have come and gone, and everyone has fielded first. With good reason: Surrey like a bit of grass on their pitches, a bit of pace and carry. It's nine first-class games since the team batting first at the Oval finished victorious, and that was last summer when a powerful Surrey side beat Essex en route to a third successive Championship. It should, then, be the kind of surface England have been craving all summer, having banged their heads against brick walls from Leeds to Birmingham and from Lord's to Manchester. Yet a question remains: which of their seamers will be in any fit state to take advantage of a pitch that may finally help them? Their bowlers - including Chris Woakes - are exhausted, with August preserved for the Hundred, meaning games have to be crammed in Stokes prefers continuity of selection, but it is asking a lot of Jofra Archer to play three Tests in a row so soon into his comeback. Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, meanwhile, were running on fumes during the last five sessions at Old Trafford, where 140 overs brought England just two wickets. Had Joe Root not dropped Ravindra Jadeja shortly before lunch on the last day, they might have been able to rest their first-choice attack with the series already won. Instead, they must contemplate bringing in any or all of Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and, for only his second Test, Jamie Overton against an Indian team determined to leave with the 2–2 draw they believe their cricket has merited. And their resolve will have stiffened after their ever-prickly coach Gautam Gambhir took offence at Surrey head groundsman Lee Fortis's request to stay off the Oval square during training — the latest flashpoint. The prospect of England fielding a second-string attack is not ideal for a team trying to tick off a 3-1 victory. Neither will it impress the fans who have ensured a five-day sellout in south London to watch the series finale between two teams who have fought like maniacs. India, too, may stick to their pre-series pledge of resting Jasprit Bumrah for two of the five matches, potentially robbing a must-win game of another star attraction. This is not how a blue-riband Test match should be, yet the players are hardly at fault. Despite England's repeated requests for pitches with pace and bounce, chief executives at the Test grounds prefer surfaces that guarantee at least four days of ticket revenue, plus income from merchandise, food and beer. As one member of the England set-up told Mail Sport: 'I think they've made enough money out of us this series.' Groundstaff are overworked by a crippling schedule, their job made harder by the driest summer in living memory. To make matters worse for the bowlers, the Dukes ball has been going unusually soft. In all, England have bowled 5,366 balls. Only once before, in the West Indies in 1929-30, have they sent down more in four Tests, and those games were played to a finish — until the last match, in Jamaica, was abandoned as a draw after 10 days because Freddie Calthorpe's England team had to catch the boat home. If this five-game series had been given more room to breathe, so would the seamers. But the Hundred now has pride of place in August, and so the fifth Test must be over by the time the men and women of London Spirit and Oval Invincibles clash at Lord's on Tuesday. Inevitably, bowlers on both sides have struggled. When the pitches are green and the Tests over inside three days, this is less of a problem. When they are brown and dry, and tempers are flaring, and everything is repeatedly at stake in the final session, something has to give. This series deserves better than to hobble over the line.
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
James Rew and Tom Abell launch stunning Somerset fightback after early wickets
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Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
James Rew and Tom Abell launch stunning Somerset fightback after early wickets
Rew will resume on 162 on Wednesday while Abell was dismissed in the final over of the day at Trent Bridge for 156 having shared in a 313-run stand. Mohammad Abbas (three for 49) removed opener Lewis Gregory and Tom Lammonby for ducks and Josh Davey in the 13th over to reduce Somerset to 25 for three before Rew and Abell led the visitors' fightback. CLOSE: From 0/2, Somerset end day one 338/4 from 93.3 overs thanks to a record partnership between James Rew (162*) and a career-best 156 from Tom Abell! 👏👏👏#WeAreSomerset #NOTvSOM — Somerset Cricket (@SomersetCCC) July 29, 2025 Division One leaders Surrey lead Durham by 29 runs with five wickets remaining as the bowlers held the upper hand on the first day at the Riverside. Colin Ackermann (51) top-scored for Durham, who were dismissed for 153, with Dan Worrall (four for 31) and Sam Curran (three for 22) both among the wickets. Surrey recovered from 27 for three in reply, with Ryan Patel (58) leading the fightback before Dan Lawrence (68 not out) and Jordan Clark (19 not out) took them to 182 for five at close. Essex captain Tom Westley struck an unbeaten 124 and shared a 132-run second-wicket partnership with opener Paul Walter (86) to help his side reach 350 for four against Warwickshire in Chelmsford. Captain leads the way with a brilliant century on the opening day of Essex v Warwickshire… 🗣️ Reaction from Tom Huggins.📽️ Day One Highlights. ✍️ Match Report. Catch up here ➡️ 🦅 #FlyLikeAnEagle — Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) July 29, 2025 Rain allowed for only 39.2 overs at New Road in Worcester, where visiting openers Joe Weatherley (62) and Fletcha Middleton (79) helped Hampshire reach 146 for two. Yorkshire limited Sussex to 210 for nine at Scarborough, where home bowler Jack White took three for 21 from 17 overs including the wicket of visiting opener Tom Haines, who fell to a stunning catch at deep square-leg from the diving James Wharton. An unbroken last-wicket stand of 60 between Danny Lamb (40no) and Gurinder Sandhu (24no) rescued the visitors from an even worse position. Division Two leaders Leicestershire made a strong start at Canterbury against Kent thanks to Rehan Ahmed's fifth century of the season and his third in successive County Championship matches. The off-spinning all-rounder hit three sixes and 17 fours on his way to 119 and shared in a 164-run second-wicket partnership with opener Rishi Patel (85) as Leicestershire closed on 386 for nine. 💯 | 106 🆚 Kent, 29 July 2025💯 | 115 🆚 Derbyshire, 22 July 2025💯 | 119 🆚 Glamorgan, 23 June 2025 Centuries in 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 successive @CountyChamp matches for Rehan Ahmed. 🔥#Foxes🦊 — Leicestershire CCC 🦊 (@leicsccc) July 29, 2025 It could have been better for the visitors, but they were denied a more commanding score on the opening day due to the bowling of former England leg-breaker Matt Parkinson, who finished with seven for 104. Lancashire all-rounder Chris Green took six for 82 to help restrict Glamorgan to 260 for eight on the first day at Old Trafford. Australian off-spinner Green's haul included the wickets of top scorers Kiran Carlson (77) and Asa Tribe (61), with the visitors failing to take control having reached 199 for three in the 67th over. Derbyshire all-rounder Martin Andersson's century helped lift his side from 89 for five to 348 for eight at close against Northamptonshire. Andersson hit 105 off 148 balls to keep Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (four for 116) at bay, with Aneurin Donald (37), Zak Chappell (32), Joe Hawkins (29 not out) and Ben Aitchison (33 not out) all aiding Derbyshire's recovery. Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is unbeaten on 104 alongside Leus du Plooy (42 not out) as Middlesex closed on 232 for three against Gloucestershire on a rain-affected opening day at Cheltenham.
