England suffering from 894 brutal overs in field, especially the captain

Ben Stokes said that he will be doing everything to be fit for the deciding Test match at the Kia Oval after a gruelling conclusion to the match at Old Trafford during which it was clear he was suffering a problem with his right shoulder. “I’m feeling pretty sore,” he said, but added: “I hope I won’t eat my words, but it’s very unlikely that I won’t play.”

Stokes bowled only three overs after lunch after an heroic eight-over burst in the morning during which he removed KL Rahul and regularly felt his bowling arm. He said later that the problem was a bicep tendon, which had flared up through lengthy periods of batting and bowling in a game in which he was named man of the match for the second Test in succession. “It’s something that’s been stirring away,” he added.

In typical fashion he tried to brush the issue aside by insisting, “I’m not going to lie, I’ve been better. But pain is just an emotion. Hopefully I’ll be all right for the last one.”

Stokes is “sore” after four gruelling five-day contests but said he expects to play in the Oval Test on Thursday STEVE TAYLOR/PPAUK

England’s inability to drive home their advantage means they head to the Oval with the series not won and tricky decisions to make. Had they secured an unbeatable 3-1 lead, they could have happily rested Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse, and possibly even given Stokes a game off. Instead, Stokes will want to be there, leading the charge.

There may be no stopping Stokes as captain, but Archer should be given a break anyway. He has done enough to prove he can go to Australia and, with careful handling, play a significant part, but the evidence is plain: his speeds in Manchester were about 2.5mph down on what they were at Lord’s, where he averaged an impressive 87.5mph.

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England must now surely recall Tongue and give a first game of the series to Gus Atkinson. “It’s been a pretty big workload in the series,” Stokes conceded. “Everyone is pretty sore and tired, and there’ll be an assessment. We need to use these next few days wisely. We might make a few decisions to get in some fresh legs. We’re lucky to have a battery of bowlers that we can call on.”

Archer’s speeds were about 2.5mph down on what they were at Lord’s in the third Test JON SUPER/AP PHOTO

This has been a brutal series for both teams, and not just the seamers, though they are the ones who need looking after most. India from the outset said that, given his pre-existing fitness issues, Jasprit Bumrah would play only three of the five Tests. Like Archer, his speeds have dropped since Lord’s.

The chat before the series was that bowlers would need rotating. After all, the five Tests are scheduled to span just 46 days. But no one would have imagined that every match would go deep into the final day.

This is very unusual, particularly with this England side intent on playing the game on fast-forward, although — praise be — that obsession has subsided of late. Go back a few more years and English pitches were so bowler-friendly that three and four-day finishes were common. (None of the Ashes Tests of 2015, for instance, went into a fifth day.)

But — apart from India’s handling of Bumrah, and Archer coming in for Josh Tongue after the second Test — rest-and-rotation plans have not really been executed. Stokes, Carse and Chris Woakes have played all four Tests, as has Mohammed Siraj — and all have shown signs of wear and tear.

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Injuries forced England to switch spinners from Shoaib Bashir to Liam Dawson, and meant India could not select Akash Deep or Nitish Kumar Reddy for Manchester.

England are likely to give a first Test of the series to Atkinson on his home ground on Thursday STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

Arguably the principal reason England fought back from 2-0 down in the Ashes in 2023 was Woakes and Mark Wood being brought in to freshen their attack at Headingley. They took 33 wickets between them in three Tests.

How to measure just how tough things have been? Well, the number of individual centuries already totals 18, more than in any previous series involving England. The record for any series — 21 when Australia toured West Indies in 1955 — could be matched or beaten at the Oval.

England’s bowlers have already bowled 894.2 overs, the most they have sent down in the first four Tests of a home series since 1951. By the time the series is done they could top 1,000 overs for only the second time in the past 30 years, the other instance coming during their 4-0 trouncing in Australia in 2017-18 when Steve Smith was at his most obdurate.

Fortunately, the schedule for this winter’s Ashes is slightly less onerous, but only slightly. It will be played over 49 days rather than 46, with week-long breaks between the first and second Tests, and the second and third — intervals possibly deliberately designed to preserve Australia’s ageing pace attack.

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By comparison, India have got away relatively lightly with 672.1 overs bowled so far, but going into the final Test they are arguably carrying more specific injuries, as opposed to exhaustion through overwork.

Scoring 722 runs and facing 1,106 balls has understandably taken its toll on Shubman Gill, who needed treatment on his back at Lord’s and during a superb, battling century to save this latest Test was struck a number of painful blows on his bottom hand.

Rishabh Pant had to give up keeping wicket at Lord’s after being hit on the left hand and is believed to have suffered a fractured right foot while batting on the first day at Old Trafford — both times triggering substitutes behind the wicket (a regulation Stokes dismissed as “ridiculous” because it is too easy to game the system). Pant, for one, is certain to be a spectator for the finale.

England v India

Fifth Test, the Oval

Starts Thursday, July 31, 11am

TV Sky Sports Cricket/Main Event

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