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Bob Willis looks ahead to Englands second Investec Test against Sri Lanka in Durham on Friday, and says who he would pick in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes. Brad Maynard Jersey ... I would go with Jake Ball. Weve seen Chris Woakes in the Test arena and, for my money, hasnt quite been good enough.The selectors would say Woakes is the nearest like-for-like replacement to Stokes. A better batsman than Liam Plunkett - who may have been considered - but not as good a bowler, in my opinion. Liam Plunkett (left) was possibly considered as a potential replacement for Ben Stokes He took only two wickets in the two Test matches he played in South Africa over the winter, but England are quite obsessed with a long batting order - he was also part of the win in South Africa and the selectors like to keep faith with people they know.England may also have thought about bringing Adil Rashid in, with him likely to be needed in Bangladesh and India this winter, but hell have needed his gloves up in Durham - I dont think its weather suited to leg-spin.Woakes does well for Warwickshire, takes wickets for fun in fact, and has captained them in Ian Bells absence, but with this series being played against Sri Lanka in late May and early June, it gives England an opportunity to look at someone like Ball. Chris Woakes took astonishing figures of 9-36 for Warwickshire in his most recent outing He was in the squad for the first Test so deserves the first opportunity and its not as if were playing Australia or South Africa, so I would bring Ball in for Stokes and move everyone up the batting order - Jonny Bairstow to six, Moeen Ali to seven.Bairstow said in interview at Headingley that he was perfectly comfortable batting at seven - he and Stokes are clearly given licence by Trevor Bayliss to play their shots, and thats the way he likes to play, but six would still be perfect for him. Jonny Bairstow is in great form with the bat, hitting 140 in the first Test at Headingley And it was only a few months ago that Moeen was opening the batting in the UAE, so theyd still have proper batting down the seven.Stuart Broad has got his confidence back as a batsman, although whether he has got his skill back is another thing. But theres nobody who is going to knock his head off in this Sri Lankan attack and hed be a perfectly adequate number eight.With the ball, I thought Broad was a little unlucky not to take more wickets at Headingley. He and James Anderson both bowled beautifully throughout and it could easily have been Broad the one who picked up 10 wickets in the match. Are Stuart Broad (left) and James Anderson (right) Englands best ever opening pair? As Steve Harmison said when joining us last week on The Verdict, theyre now the best pair of opening bowlers England have ever had.Better than myself and Sir Ian Botham; Fred Trueman and Brian Statham; Harmison and Matthew Hoggard - thats high praised indeed. But its hard to argue against as theyre approaching 800 wickets between them.Theyre phenomenal bowlers, particularly in English conditions. And without Tillakaratne Dilshan, Majela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara - asking this Sri Lanka team to come and face the likes of Broad and Anderson, in May, is a bridge too far for most of them. They tried to attack, tried to defend, but whichever they did they couldnt cope with Englands bowling.Its not going to be 25 degrees so clearly the Sri Lankans wont be that comfortable, but weve had to play in Colombo in 40 degrees, so they have to play over here in just 10 degree weather in Durham.England have got all bases covered. I cant see things changing in the second Test.Watch England take on Sri Lanka in the second Investec Test at Emirates Riverside from 10am on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD. Also See: Anderson takes 10 in England win WATCH: Players of First Test England fixtures/results Sri Lanka fixtures/results
- Created: Feb 12 '20
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