England expect to have Ollie Robinson and Craig Overton available for Thursday’s Third Test against West Indies in Grenada.
Robinson was not risked for the Second Test in Barbados because England did not want to gamble with him after a back spasm, while Overton sat out having suffered a fatigue-related illness the day before the game.
With Mark Wood out with an elbow injury, that led to two debutants in the seam attack, Matt Fisher and Saqib Mahmood.
England have not called up a replacement for Wood, so have a 15-man squad, but should have decent options to refresh the side depending on the conditions they find in Grenada this week.
A huge workload for England’s bowlers over the first two Tests led Paul Collingwood to say that England will have to “be smart on how much” training his players do before the game.
Collingwood expects both Robinson and Overton to be available, which puts Chris Woakes’ place under even greater threat.
“We’ll have to gauge it over next couple of days,” he said. “Ollie Robinson has not played in the first two Tests but looks as though he is ready and available and Craig Overton has overcome illness. We will look at the wicket in Grenada and see what make up of the team is suited to take 20 wickets.”
Of Woakes, he said: “It’s been two really gruelling Test matches. Players put heart and soul into them so I can imagine guys are tired and exhausted after ten days of hard cricket on tough surfaces. Let’s see what the surface is like in Grenada and hopefully it has a bit more grass on it then you will see him with more energy.”
Another option is Matt Parkinson, the uncapped legspinner. Collingwood said he did not regret the decision to select Fisher ahead of Parkinson in Barbados, even though England only picked up five second innings wickets on the final day.
“He is ready as can be,” he said. “The simple fact is in Covid times you don’t get matches in between. They are back to back to back and it is putting a lot of stress on the players and the downside is we don’t have matches in between to have preparation time for guys who are not playing.
“We’ve just got to make sure they get time on their feet, get their steps in fitness wise and the overs under their belt so they can be as ready as can be.”
Collingwood was delighted with the performance of Mahmood, who picked up two wickets in each innings and was a threat with the new and old ball.
“I was delighted he got a couple of wickets in the second innings,” he said. “I was heartbroken when he overstepped in the first innings.
“I thought the two debutants showed a lot of skills on a docile pitch and great signs for the future. I’m sure they will be absolutely exhausted after this match, spending 190 overs in the field and then having one session off and then going again. They can be proud of their efforts. It was a tough Test match but they showed some great signs.”
