Gough suggests England rotate Archer, Wood ahead of 2nd Test

England should not be overly reliant on express pace in the next two Tests against West Indies and must consider alternating Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, former quick Darren Gough has said.

England opted for the express speed of Archer and Wood and the experience of James Anderson in Southampton but lost by four wickets in the series opener.

“I’ve said from the start — rotate Archer and Wood,” Gough, who played 58 Tests between 1994-2003, told Sky Sport Cricket.

“We got a bit carried away, seeing Wood bowl really quickly in South Africa. We’ve seen Archer do it, but it’s very hard to do it every single game.”

Gough said England should also bring back Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes for the second Test, which begins on Thursday at Manchester’s Old Trafford.

“I would rest Wood and Anderson at Old Trafford and bring in Broad and Woakes,” Gough said.

“That would be my plan then, with back-to-back test matches, you bring Anderson and Wood back (for the third test).”

Former captain Michael Vaughan said it would be unfair to criticise Archer, who claimed three second-innings wickets in Southampton, for not bowling consistently in excess of 90 miles per hour.

“The body just doesn’t allow you to do it every single over that you bowl,” Vaughan told BBC Radio 5.

“But when you get that click, that six or seven overs where everything is in sync and you see the ball flying down at 90mph-plus causing chaos, that’s why you put Jofra Archer in your team.”

England head coach Chris Silverwood has thrown his weight behind under-fire wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler ahead of the second Test.

England are down 0-1 in the three-match series after West Indies pulled off a stunning four-wicket win at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

Buttler recorded scores of 35 and 9 in the two innings while his drop catch of Jermaine Blackwood proved to be costly as he ended up scoring a match-winning knock of 95 for the visitors.

“Jos (Buttler) looked brilliant in practice coming into the game. He just needs to go on and make those big scores now, doesn’t he? He knows that,” Silverwood was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

“From our point of view it’s just making sure he feels confident in the environment he’s in. We’ll give him the best chance to succeed and then if he has a day out and gets some runs the rest will be history,” he added.

England gave their vote of confidence to Buttler ahead of the series by not including Jonny Bairstow in the squad. However, Silverwood reminded they still have back-up stumper Ben Foakes in the side who could come in if Buttler’s problems persist.

“I’m not going to go down the road of putting Jos under pressure because I don’t think that will help him,’ Silverwood said.

“First and foremost we want to give him the best chance to succeed but, yes, we have a very good gloveman here in Ben Foakes.”

England to back Buttler, but Denly in the firing line: Meanwhile, the time may be up for Joe Denly.

Captain Joe Root is set to return after missing the four-wicket defeat in Southampton to attend the birth of his second child.

The England selectors have big decisions to make after again losing the game with the bat rather than the ball despite the controversial omission of Stuart Broad.

An under-par 204 in the first innings and the loss of five wickets for 30 runs on the fourth evening set the platform for the tourists to take first blood. Denly and Buttler were involved in both passages and find themselves increasingly under pressure for their places -- the former being squeezed by Root’s return and Zak Crawley’s fine 76 on Saturday, the latter from Surrey gloveman Foakes. England head coach Chris Silverwood, though, has only offered strong reassurance to one of the duo.

Agencies