England name unchanged squad for second Test

Although Alastair Cook made a mess of the toss, his bowlers were on top of things as England clinched a massive 170-run victory in the first Test at Lords. Stuart Broad and James Anderson were sensational with the ball as the duo picked 15 wickets in first Test.

However, the absence of Kevin Pietersen was felt by England. The middle order looks patchy as they are heavily reliant on Jonny Bairstow to deliver under crunch situations. The top order has to fire for England in the second Test to give the necessary freedom to the middle-order batsmen. Nevertheless, England selector Geoff Miller has named an unchanged squad for the second Test at Leeds.

Miller was pretty happy with the performance of England in the first Test. “I thought the team showed a lot of fighting spirit when under pressure to set up the victory. We are aware that there are still areas that we need to improve on and the players and coaches will be working hard ahead of the second Test.”

Tim Bresnan is looking forward to playing in second Test at his home ground. But given the performance of Steve Finn, Bresnan may have to wait for the Ashes Series. “He probably isn’t bowling as well as he could, but he’s getting wickets,” Saker said. “He’s got that knack of getting wickets. He’s got the pace. We’re just working on a few little things but I’m sure he’ll be all right and confident by Leeds.”

The conditions at Leeds are expected to favour batsmen, as there have been many high-scoring games in the recent County Championship. So, a run-feast is expected in the second Test at Headingly.

England squad: Alastair Cook, Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan