England have announced that Saqib Mahmood will make his Test debut in Barbados against the West Indies as a replacement for the injured Mark Wood.
It is the only change to the side from the first Test in Antigua with Ollie Robinson not quite able to resume his international career following back spasms at the start of the tour. While it is virtually impossible to replace what Wood offers, Mahmood is the most like for like substitute England have with a similarly skiddy trajectory and more pace that his teammates.
The 25-year-old Lancashire paceman is also a handy practitioner of reverse swing which could be a huge asset at the Kensington Oval on what looks to be another flat pitch. Mahmood has played seven ODIs and 12 T20Is so far and has been a part of several England Test squads before now getting his chance.
“Of course we are going to miss Woody and his point of difference,” said Root. “But Saqib is a great option to have up our sleeve. One thing is he's very mature for a guy who hasn't played a huge amount of international cricket. He has an understanding of what he wants to do and how he wants to operate.
“We’ve made a strong point about having real clarity on what you are going to bring to the team when you come into it and he's been very impressive. “He's got a slightly different trajectory and will give us something different as he has done when he's played in other formats. Clearly he has good control, especially if the ball moves with reverse swing so he offers a huge amount.”
Robinson had made significant progress in his return to full fitness but was considered too much of a risk to get through the match having struggled with the same issue in Australia.
In Hobart, Robinson declared himself fit to play, but after bowling just eight overs in the first innings he left the field and was unable to bowl again until the second innings following treatment.
He clearly now has to prove he can get through a game with more spells of bowling before England will send him out to play, meaning the third Test in Grenada is now his target.
England team: Lees, Crawley, Root (c), Lawrence, Stokes, Bairstow, Foakes (wk), Woakes, Overton, Mahmood, Leach
