Joe Root confident England can deliver

England captain Joe Root is full of confidence ahead of the second test against Pakistan. 

England are nursing the bruises of a punishing nine wicket loss in last weeks test at lords. Root is keen for players to prove what they are capable of and prove what a good side they can be. 

Winless in the last eight test matches Root’s side must win at Headingley to avoid the embarrassment of a third successive series loss. 

Root shows his confidence in the media but the stats do not lie. Cook and Root are the only batsman in the side that average 40+ runs in the test format. This is not good enough for a top test side. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are known as the front line bowlers for England. They are also the only bowlers to average under 30 runs per wicket. A clear lack of strength in depth, both disciplines considered.

However, Root would disagree that the relatively modest career records of most of his team means that England’s results are likely to be mixed. “We can look at areas where we want to get better and we can look at individual records, but collectively we have underperformed,” said England’s captain.

On Friday we can expect more of the same from Pakistan and why not. I fully expect pressure to be applied early on, this will be a stern test of Englands breaking point.

Stokes a doubt, but Root confident

England could start the second test without all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes who took figures of 3-73 from his 22 overs in the first innings. Finds himself waiting for a scan on a hamstring injury picked up in the game. 

The omission of stokes would likely see the recall of fellow all-rounder Chris Woakes. The alternative is to hand a debut to 19 year old left armer from Surrey Sam Curran.

Depending on the severity of the injury. The option of stokes playing as a specialist batsman is one to be considered.

With Stokes or without, the side will need to draw on the captains positivity, come together and perform to a standard we all know they are capable of. 

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