Ominous signs for England after toil
Carse was ruled out for three months earlier this year because of serious cuts and blisters on his toes – an issue that first emerged on tours of Pakistan and New Zealand before Christmas.Although he remained on the field in Birmingham, he was seen hobbling at various times when fielding and in his bowling follow-through.Stokes, meanwhile, has returned to bowling this year following hamstring surgery.He was seen stretching his groin on day one and, after a lengthy warm-up before play, opened the bowling on day two. He delivered four overs for 16 runs but did not return to the attack in the remaining 58 overs of India's innings. Similarly, Woakes did not feature after his four overs for 22 runs at the start of the day.Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir bowled 45 overs for 3-167, Josh Tongue struggled as he took 2-119 from 28 overs and even Harry Brook bowled five overs of his part-time seam in their absence."India have batted great and with great control but the way England bowled today was a slight concern," Vaughan said."There were a few things I saw in the field which made me think it was ominous going forward."
The fitness issue is heightened by the fact there are only three days off before this Test and the third at Lord's next week.By then England could be boosted by the return of Gus Atkinson, their leading wicket-taker in 2024 who bowled a long and pacey spell in the nets before this match as he recovers from a hamstring injury, while Jofra Archer looks on course to make a long-awaited return to Test cricket too.Jamie Overton has recovered from a broken finger and Essex seamer Sam Cook is available should England require or wish for further changes.
'We are not fussed what's said outside the group'
India captain Shubman Gill capitalised on England's struggles and made 267 - the highest score by an India batter in the UK.That came despite Stokes winning the toss on day one and then continuing his preference to bowl first. India's score was the highest England have conceded since Stokes became captain.Bowling coach Jeetan Patel insisted England can still win the match, again following the Stokes mantra of dismissing the prospect of playing for a draw, and said they would not reflect on the toss decision."I don't think you reflect on what's happened," the New Zealander said."Hindsight's hindsight. We decided to bowl and we'll stick by that. "On the first day it showed enough for us and we created a lot of opportunities and it didn't go our way. The day might've looked different yesterday and this morning if we got those decisions."People are going to look at any scorecard and make a decision on what they're going to think. I'm not really fussed and I don't think any of us are fussed about what's said outside of the group."
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