There were some raised eyebrows when England named an unchanged XI for this third Test against West Indies; eyebrows that wondered why, in a summer of supposed renewal for their bowling attack, and with the series win already secured, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum had decided against blooding another rookie seamer.
The logic went that with three more Tests against Sri Lanka to come following a pause for the Hundred, chances for the likes of Matthew Potts and Dillon Pennington would emerge organically. Mark Wood’s pace had put the frighteners up the tourists at Trent Bridge, while Chris Woakes, their banker in English conditions, was returning to his home ground. They also wanted another look at Gus Atkinson to find out how the 26-year-old would cope physically playing his third Test match in the space of three weeks.
