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England have the kind of selection headache rarely experienced in modern times ahead of the first Test of the summer against the West Indies on Wednesday.
With a squad of 13 named for the Ageas Bowl clash and the top-six batting order locked in, the final decisions on the XI will focus on the fast bowling places.
As the sole spinner, Dominic Bess is likely to feature to offer some variation in the attack while Ben Stokes, England’s 81st Test captain, will assume the fourth seamer’s role.
That effectively leaves five rivals for three spots. Here, Sportsmail assesses the credentials of each of the candidates in the pace race.
England fans are anxious to find out which bowlers will be selected for the first Test
James Anderson
Pros: He turns 38 at the end of this month but age has not withered Anderson as a new-ball bowler. If anything, England’s Test bowling maestro is actually getting better.
That is shown in the fact that since the start of the 2015 Ashes summer, his 187 wickets for England have cost only 21.75 runs each — better than his career average of 26.83.
Last year, his 30 County Championship victims came at the miserly cost of less than 10 apiece.
Cons: There don’t appear to be any. Clearly fit following the rib injury suffered during the tour of South Africa, where he bagged a 28th five-wicket haul, the inclusion of England’s most prolific bowler in history seems a no-brainer.
With no discernible drop in pace and the skill set and experience to adapt to all types of conditions, Anderson is exactly the kind of bowler a captain likes, providing an attacking threat allied to great control.
James Anderson turns 38 at the end of the month but isn’t showing signs of slowing down
Chris Woakes
Pros: More of a traditional, English-style seamer whose lower-order batting adds an additional element to his value. His colleagues have spoken of him looking strong since the squad came together.
Possesses an excellent home record in Test cricket, having taken 70 of his 95 wickets here, but he is the outsider to play amongst the five.
Cons: It is hard to justify this most worthy of cricketers being picked ahead of either of England’s prolific veterans or either of the two tyros.
However, with rotation expected to play a significant role over a schedule of six Tests in seven weeks, there will be opportunities for all at some point.
Chris Woakes has an excellent home record in Test cricket but remains an outsider to play
Jofra Archer
Pros: England’s Barbados-born quick is almost certain to play. In his Mail On Sunday column, Stuart Broad suggested that Archer is 100 per cent in the best XI.
Still only seven caps into a Test career that opened in a flurry of gasps at his effortless pace and hostility against Australia last summer, at the age of 25 he is the face of England’s fast-bowling future.
Cons: Yet to play a match since being ruled out for three months with a stress fracture of the elbow earlier this year.
The management of Archer’s playing schedule will be important given his value to the team and it is extremely unlikely that any of the quintet will play all six Tests in this biosecure summer, but expect him to face his native West Indies first up.
Jofra Archer is returning from an injury but should be a safe bet to play on Wednesday
Mark Wood
Pros: Has good memories of playing against the Windies, having injected new life into his Test career with a firebrand display to take the man-of-the-match honours in victory in St Lucia 18 months ago.
The inclusion of a second bowler able to produce speeds in excess of 90mph would provide the kind of artillery to suit what is expected to be an attacking mantra from captain Stokes.
Cons: The long-term fragility of Wood’s body may influence how England think about using him despite his obvious X-factor both with a newish ball and an older one when pitches become tired.
Emirates Old Trafford is home to arguably the bounciest pitch in the country and saving him for next week would lessen the need for Stokes to fill in overs, so he could concentrate on leading the side in Southampton.
Mark Wood can produce speeds in excess of 90mph but the fragility of his body is an issue
Stuart Broad
Pros: His alliance with Anderson up front has been one of the strengths of the team over the past decade. Anderson is the only Englishman to have taken more than Broad’s 485 Test wickets.
Broad has not missed a home Test since being rested against West Indies in a rain-reduced contest at Edgbaston in 2012 and is undoubtedly a big-occasion performer.
This was highlighted by him finishing as the team’s leading wicket-taker in last year’s Ashes.
Another with a descending bowling average in recent times, Broad’s numbers are around the 24-mark for the past two summers.
Cons: The 34-year-old would feel disgruntled if he were passed over for tactical reasons, but if England are presented with the kind of sluggish surface they were delivered for last week’s practice match, speed through the air might be deemed preferable to Broad’s ability to extract extra bounce.
Stokes and coach Chris Silverwood may be wary of leaving him out, however, given the result the last time that decision was taken in Barbados last year — when Sam Curran was preferred and England were crushed.
Stuart Broad has not missed a home Test since being rested against West Indies in 2012
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