England are set to make “a couple of changes” in Friday night’s third T20I against Pakistan in Karachi, as they look to manage their squad through a hectic schedule of seven games in 13 days.
They made one forced change for Thursday’s ten-wicket defeat as Liam Dawson replaced Richard Gleeson, who left the field in the first T20I after experiencing “some minor discomfort”, but are likely to shuffle their pack for the third game in the series.
England fielded three left-arm seamers and three spinners in the second T20I and may look to change the balance of their attack, with Olly Stone and Tom Helm in contention for debuts. David Willey has struggled in this series, leaking 85 runs in 7.3 wicketless overs, while Luke Wood found his second international appearance significantly tougher than his first.
“There will be a couple of changes tomorrow, with guys coming back,” Moeen Ali, the England captain, said. “We’re not sure exactly who yet, but it’s about coming up with ideas and different ways to get wickets. That’s the crucial thing when you get a big score: if you’re taking wickets, most of the time, you’re going to win the game.
“I thought we bowled well. Dawson was fantastic today and bowled four really, really good overs. [But] I thought we could have done a lot more. Nobody really bowled a bouncer, and we could have tried a few more things. But we can learn from that.”
England’s changes are likely to come in their bowling attack in the first instance, with Moeen suggesting that Will Jacks – one of two fit batters on the sidelines in the first two games, along with his Oval Invincibles team-mate Jordan Cox – would have to wait his turn.
“When their chance comes they’ll get a go,” Moeen said. “You don’t want to just give people games because there’s a big reputation. They have to earn their spot. Alex Hales has come in, Phil Salt is opening, Jos Buttler still has to come in. Someone like Will Jacks will wait.
“He’s a brilliant player, everybody in England knows that, and I’m sure you guys will see him at some stage on this tour. We’re going to change it up a little bit throughout these next five games because we want to give players some game time and there’s a lot of guys coming back from injuries.”
Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are not expected to feature before the Lahore leg of the tour but have both bowled with good pace in training and in pre-match warm-ups, while Reece Topley could also come into contention as England look to ease him back from an ankle niggle.
