sport

England ponder personnel changes

England are considering resting the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad for the third Investec Test against the West Indies.

England wrapped up the series with a nine-wicket win at Trent Bridge on Monday.

Following victory at Lord's in the opening match, Andrew Strauss' side hold an unassailable 2-0 going into the concluding fixture at Edgbaston on June 7.

England would not ordinarily consider withdrawing key men at such an early stage of the summer - and often prefer to make changes to limited-overs squads rather than Test teams - but with a packed schedule ahead of them, Strauss and the national selectors are looking at their options.

A limited-overs series against the Windies is next, followed by a one-day series against Australia and a full tour by South Africa. After that comes the defence of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and four Tests in India.

"We'll definitely think about changes," said Strauss, after top-scoring with 45 in his side's successful chase of 108 on day four in Nottingham.

"We've always viewed resting and rotating as something you have to do on a case-by-case basis so we'll speak to the seamers, see how they're feeling and see how we're looking for the rest of the summer.

"You always have to look quite a long way ahead when it comes to potentially resting someone.

"It's always a balance to strike because primarily you want to win every Test you play: that's the starting point.

"We'll have a conversation about it in the coming days."

In Steven Finn and Graham Onions, England have two high-class performers ready to step in at a moment's notice and England would appreciate to see the pair in Test action again.

But Strauss made sure to stop short of confirming England would make changes.

"It's a difficult situation and I certainly wouldn't want to nail my colours to the mast one way or the other," he said. "At this stage we have to sit down, think it through rationally and decide what the best course of action is, both for the Test match and for the long-term prospects of the team over the summer."

One man who has no desire to be caught up in any rotation policy is Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan.

His place was under threat from Finn in the build-up to the second Test but he responded with a man-of-the-match performance, taking eight wickets and scoring an important 39 not out to stabilise England's first innings.

He also took his remarkable winning streak as a Test cricketer to 13 games in a row.

Asked how he felt about England shuffling their pack, he said: "From a personal point of view I've got five and that's ample time to recover from the last two weeks. I thoroughly expect to be fresh and available for selection."

West Indies captain Darren Sammy accepts his team still have a long way to go before they can start thinking about winning Test matches regularly.

The Windies trailed by just 58 runs after the first innings thanks to their efforts of their bowlers as England fell from 267 for two to 428 all out on a largely lifeless pitch.

However, the tourists closed on 61 for six yesterday after their top order failed to fire.

A spell of three wickets for 10 runs from Bresnan turned the game dramatically in England's favour and Sammy acknowledged that performing well in patches is not good enough in a Test environment.

"We've been doing some good stuff. We've definitely shown signs of improvement but we're not getting any success," Sammy told Sky Sports News.

"We've been good in patches but we've not been good for an extended period of time. Hopefully we can learn a lot faster."

Much of their malaise on this tour can be laid at the door of their top order, with Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo all failing to make a half-century in the opening two Tests.

"I think we just have to be more focused, continue working hard and put a higher price on our wickets," he said.

"We did really well to put ourselves back in the game because at the end of the second day England were looking at a 200 lead but the bowlers fought back .

"We as a batting group have to really appreciate what the bowlers go out and do because we work really hard for the wickets we get against England and when it's our turn to bat we don't really put a high price on our wickets."

And Sammy hinted changes could be made before the third Test in Birmingham.

"It's up to the board and the selectors. We have a squad of 16 here and whatever happens, we'll see," he said.

"The 16 here will try to go out and give us another shout in the next Test."