England have made four significant alterations to their line-up ahead of a must-win third Test to keep the Ashes alive as they trail 2-0 to a buoyant Australia. In come Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, with Harry Brook moving up to No.3.
Moeen's return as the spinner following recovery from a damaged right index finger is noteworthy after England relied solely on Joe Root's offspin for Lord's. But the first sightings of Woakes and Wood this summer, along with Brook's move from the sanctuary of No.5 to the frontline are three significant shifts at a crucial juncture of this summer. The trio's individual responsibilities and narratives carry significant weight as the Ashes reach boiling point at Headingley...
"Can I have a new ball please?"
Harry Brook was working in the temporary nets with assistant coach Jeetan Patel on the dog-slinger when Stokes informed him he would bat at No.3 for this Test, replacing Ollie Pope after the vice-captain was ruled out of the summer with a dislocated right shoulder. In typical Brook fashion, he greeted the news with positivity. Brook immediately turned to Patel and asked to reload the thrower with fresher Dukes: "Can I have a new ball please?" Now that he was moving up the order, training had to be tailored immediately.
"You guys have obviously seen his unbelievable start to his international career," Stokes said, referencing Brook's 818 runs, four centuries and average of 81.80 from his seven Tests prior to this summer's Ashes. That haul now reads 950 at 67.85 after a relatively fallow two matches, but Stokes' point is hardly diluted.
"I know that's been at No.5, but last summer when he was the next batter in, we had complete confidence that he could slot into our batting line-up in any position. The opportunity presented itself to him with Jonny's injury. Look, he's technically very gifted and, players like that, you feel you can back anywhere, you're lucky to have them."
For all Brook's talent and confidence, the main motivation behind his promotion is to keep Joe Root, the team's best batter at No.4. In turn, it allows Jonny Bairstow to reprise last summer's role of five at a time when the keeper-batter could not be more up for the battle after his contentious stumping at the hands of Alex Carey.
Brook's series so far has been neither here nor there, as the average of 33 suggests. An exciting first innings at Edgbaston ended in comical fashion when he was bowled off his backside for 32. A bum shot closed what could have been an emphatic second innings on 46. His half-century at Lord's was arguably the least convincing knock of his four so far; chaotic on the evening of day two and then clumsy the morning after when moving out to leg and scuffing to cover. He could do little about a worldie from Pat Cummins that took his off stump for four in the second innings, but that merely compounded the wastefulness of the three previous knocks. He's been in and given it away - something which he cannot do further up the chain.
It's worth taking a cursory look at Brook's experience at first drop. It's meaningless of course, given the last of his 13 innings in that position came in 2018 - although that's still 13 more than Ollie Pope had played before he took on the role at the start of last summer. Back then, Brook was 19 and a very different person, let alone player.
There is, however, a standout innings of 124 from May of that year, which is quite fun to extrapolate.
On a Chelmsford snakepit, Brook opened and got a duck as Yorkshire were snuffed out for 50 inside 19 overs before Essex responded with 142. Gary Ballance, as captain, decided Yorkshire's best bet in the third innings would be to go for broke. Bairstow opened the batting this time, struck a 44-ball 50, before Brook came in and played pretty much how he does now: ambitious shots devoid of fear, such as running down the pitch and hitting Simon Harmer out of the rough.
Yorkshire would go onto win the match by 91 runs after setting Essex 238 to win, and everyone who took part in the match acknowledges this as a coming-of-age knock for Brook. Not only was this a maiden first-class hundred but it was probably the first time he realised just how good he was.
The Wizard Returns
Before the start of this summer, Chris Woakes reached out to Stokes. Feeling fit, refreshed and - most importantly - keen to add to his 45 Test caps, he wanted to see if there was anything he could do differently. While he had read a few things about how England have approached their cricket since Stokes took over as captain and Brendon McCullum came into the fold, he thought it best to double-check. An international cricketer of 12 years, he knew there were some messages that don't make it beyond the dressing-room walls and into the media. He wanted to check what they were.
Aged 34, he was open to trying new things at the start of the season for Warwickshire. Anything to help him fit into an England environment that looked a lot more fun than his last two Test squads - 2021-22's 4-0 Ashes defeat followed by the 1-0 loss in the Caribbean. At the time, Stokes told Woakes not to do anything differently.
That message was reiterated this week. Ahead of what will be his 13th Ashes Test and first of the Bazball era, Woakes checked in with his captain once more. "Anything for me?" he asked on Wednesday morning.
"Nah, you just do you," Stokes replied. "If I change the field, don't worry about it because I just like doing rogue things."
Like Stokes, Woakes' Test debut came against Australia in 2013, albeit in the last Test of the home series rather on the 2013-14 return leg immediately after. His Ashes memories aren't particularly fond - a modest 38.81 average with the ball on these shores, and an unflattering 51.63 over there - but this week is an opportunity for better days.
His merits as an allrounder, along with Moeen Ali, reinforce England's batting after a long tail was, ultimately, exposed at Lord's. And yet he will also serve a dual purpose of replacing James Anderson, who has had an ineffectual couple of weeks, and acting as Stokes' crutch.
"A big part of the team we've ended up picking is, worst-case scenario, if I wasn't to bowl this game," Stokes admitted, alluding to the chronic issue with his left knee. "It doesn't mean I'm not going to. But yeah last week I bowled that 12-over spell and it was a tiring last two days of the game. [It is a] Very quick turnaround so I obviously had to factor that in, in terms of if I was to bowl again then couldn't, then we're a little bit stuck. Whereas now I don't feel as if I'm under too much pressure to bowl with the team we've picked."
There is a bit of Paul Scholes about Woakes. While some doubt his standing in the English game (mostly because of a poor away record), team-mates past and present regard him as the most talented cricketer going, hence the nickname "Wiz" (The Wizard). An intermittent Test career is down to Anderson's longevity as an opening quick and Stokes' talismanic ways as an allrounder. Now, facing the biggest Test of his career a decade after this journey began, he must channel the former to reinforce the latter.
Rockets finally unleashed?
There weren't many words exchanged as McCullum and Stokes told Mark Wood he would play in this third Test on Wednesday morning. The Durham quick more or less knew on Tuesday, but a necessary bowl in the middle of Headingley at full-pelt and off the full run-up on the eve of Test was an understandable last-minute check.
The 33-year-old Wood has been something of an over-coiled spring this summer. He sat out the Ireland Test in anticipation of Edgbaston, then was left out for an all-medium-pace attack before a minor elbow issue - and the presence of Josh Tongue - gave England reason to hold fire. Two-nil down, this is the big one, and with a week's gap between this and the fourth Test, the best-case scenario of an England win here potentially gives Wood a clear run to the end of this series.
His last competitive match came in the Indian Premier League, on April 15, taking two for 35 for Lucknow Super Giants against Punjab Kings. Months and worlds away from where we are right now. But England have no fears about his match-fitness or durability, certainly as far as the next month is concerned.
The extra pace will add a new dimension to the bouncer wars both teams have engaged in - Wood will be the quickest bowler on show this series - but it will also help England overcome a couple of issues of their own making. The request for "fast" and "flat" pitches has not come to fruition, and 2023's offering from Dukes is only marginally better than last year's ball. If Headingley is uncharacteristically sleepy, a player responsible for the fastest spells ever bowled by an Englishman could wake it up.
"To replace someone who performed so well with someone like Mark Wood is a big positive for us," Stokes said, after Tongue's spirited five-wicket display at Lord's. "And yeah, we've all seen the tactics that both teams actually went to. So having Woody in our bowling attack this week, if we feel like we have to go to that tactic again is obviously a big bonus for us.
"Tonguey was bowling high 80s last week, so to have someone who can bowl high 90s is pretty exciting. I think as well with that, you know what, Woody's not just an out-and-out bloke who runs in and tries to hit people. He is a very skilful bowler as well. So I'm excited that we've got Woody in a place where he's able to walk onto the field and play part of the summer."
The last time Wood played an Ashes Test at home, he helped secure the urn, claiming the final wicket of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge in 2015 en route to a 3-2 series win. England need nothing less than that scoreline right now.