llie Pope is set to undergo scans on his injured shoulder, with the England vice-captain desperate to be fit for this week’s Third Ashes Test at Headingley.
Pope sustained the injury while fielding in Australia’s first innings and then aggravated the problem in the second, having been told by match referees that he would have to field in order to bat in his usual position at No3 during England’s chase.
England are hopeful that the Surrey man will be okay to feature in Leeds, with Ben Stokes’s side in must-win mode having gone 2-0 down in the series following Australia’s 43-run win at Lord’s.
Within an hour of that game finishing, England announced a squad for the Third Test featuring no new faces, the only changes being in the omissions of young bowlers Matthew Potts and Rehan Ahmed, as Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum whittled their group down to 15.
Essex’s Dan Lawrence remains the only spare batter in the squad and could be in line to win his first Test cap in more than a year should Pope miss out.
Provided the 25-year-old is fit, the only changes in England’s XI are expected to come in refreshing and, perhaps, rejigging the bowling attack.
Stokes opted for an all-seam line-up for the first time in his captaincy at Lord’s, that decision partially influenced by concern over Moeen Ali’s blistered finger, but Ahmed’s release suggests England are confident the spinner is ready to play.
Mark Wood had been in line to feature in the Second Test and looks certain to come in to provide Australia with their first express pace examination of the series, England hedging that another week of building workloads could see the quick ready to play three games on the bounce now if required.
James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson have all played back-to-back Tests and Anderson appears likeliest to miss out at Leeds, having looked well below his best so far in the series and with the Fourth Test to come at his home ground, Old Trafford.
Australia are set to hand an Ashes debut to Todd Murphy, with Nathan Lyon now formally ruled out of the series after tearing his calf at Lord’s.
The 22-year-old impressed on debut during the tour of India earlier this year and Australia have decided against adding further spin cover to their squad.
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