“A Little Bit”: Michael Atherton Surprised By England Picking Josh Tongue Over Chris Woakes for Lord’s Test

Former captain Michael Atherton is party surprised by England preferring debutant Josh Tongue over experienced all-rounder Chris Woakes for a one-off Test against Ireland starting at Lord’s from tomorrow. Not part of the original squad, the right-arm fast bowler will be playing his first international match after making it to the national squad as an injury cover for the likes of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson.

Tongue, 25, has picked 162 wickets at an average of 26.04 across a 47-match first-class career. Representing Worcestershire in the ongoing County Championship Division Two, Tongue’s 11 wickets across six innings have come at an average and strike rate of 41.45 and 56.09 respectively.

Atherton, who seconded England Test captain Ben Stokes describing Tongue as an “X-factor” player, also provided potential reasons as per him to Sky Sports Cricket as to what has led to him being fast-tracked to the highest level.

“A little bit [surprised]. Partly because Chris Woakes had been put up by the media manager yesterday. There was a natural assumption than Woakes might be playing. They probably see quite a high ceiling with him [Josh Tongue]. He’s quite lively. He’s a strong lad. He hits the pitch hard.”

Michael Atherton Tries Explaining England Picking Josh Tongue Over Chris Woakes

Atherton, 55, also tried to explain difference between Woakes and Tongue’s offerings for the immediate match. Woakes, who had played in both the white-ball formats during the tour of Bangladesh in March, hasn’t played a Test since the tour of West Indies last year. Having missed the entire last English summer due to a knee injury, England probably didn’t want to rush him into action right away.

“Essentially, they know what [Chris] Woakes does even though he’s not playing Test cricket for 12 [14] months or so. They know what standard he’s at. Because of the injuries [to several other pacers] and because of the fact that there are about five Ashes Test matches in about seven [six] weeks, they might need the strength and depth of their talked about. What they wouldn’t want is to get to a critical Ashes Test match and to rush somebody like Josh Tongue. They wouldn’t want him to make his debut in the Ashes. I think that’s why they’ve given him a go here.

It is noteworthy that benching Woakes at Lord’s would’ve been difficult for England primarily because of his Test record at this historic venue. Although he hasn’t participated in a Lord’s Test since 2019, Woakes has dismissed 27 batters at an average and strike rate of 11.33 and 25.9 respectively across five Tests here. With the bat in hand, Woakes has scored 306 runs across eight innings at an average of 61.20 including a century and half-century each.