Cook hints at bowler changes for second Test

Alastair Cook has hinted that England will make a couple of changes, particularly to their bowling attack, ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh.

England wrapped up a 22-run victory within 20 minutes on the fifth morning in Chittagong but Cook, the England captain, suggested they will use the final Test of the series to provide an opportunity for other members of the squad to gain experience ahead of the five-Test series in India that awaits.

“I’m pretty sure there will be some changes,” Cook said. “If we play the same side early on in the tour, we could have a lot of guys with not much cricket under their belts coming into a crucial Test a bit further down the line. We were clear before we came out here that we would rotate, so I’d imagine there might be a couple of changes.

Cook made a point of saying that they would be rotating players rather than dropping them, “It’s certainly more about rotation. In an ideal world we don’t want to get to India with people having not played much cricket. There are some fine players who didn’t make this team and, with how hot it is and energy levels, to not be playing all seven Test matches will freshen things up. It’s certainly more on the bowling side to start with.”

With Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali looking hard to leave out – they give the side its depth and balance – England may be tempted to rest Stuart Broad, who has now played 99 Tests, and Chris Woakes, while they would also like to give a game to the left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari if possible.

While Cook admitted there were times he would have “loved to have the fourth spinner” in his side, he also expressed his contentment with the current balance of the team and suggested Bangladesh’s batsmen in general look a little more comfortable against spin than …

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