England are set keep faith with Jos Buttler despite defeat to West Indies in the first Test of a three-match series, but time may be up for...
England are set keep faith with Jos Buttler despite defeat to West Indies in the first Test of a three-match series, but time may be up for Joe Denly.
Captain Joe Root is set to return for the second Test starting on Thursday at Old Trafford after missing the four-wicket defeat in Southampton to attend the birth of his second child.
The England selectors have big decisions to make after again losing the game with the bat rather than the ball despite the controversial omission of Stuart Broad.
An under-par 204 in the first innings and the loss of five wickets for 30 runs on the fourth evening set the platform for the tourists to take first blood.
Denly and Buttler were involved in both passages and find themselves increasingly under pressure for their places – the former being squeezed by Root’s return and Zak Crawley’s fine 76 on Saturday, the latter from Surrey gloveman Ben Foakes.
England head coach Chris Silverwood, though, has only offered strong reassurance to one of the duo.
Buttler has a Test average of just 23.22 since the start of 2019 and now only one hundred in 75 innings.
“I’m not gonna go down that road yet of putting Jos under pressure, because I don’t think it’s going to...
