Toby Roland-Jones
Toby Roland-Jones

England v West Indies betting: Toby Roland-Jones 12/1 to take five first innings wickets


Toby Roland-Jones will replace Chris Woakes in England's side for the third Test against West Indies at Lord's.

The Middlesex fast bowler is the only change to the side comprehensively beaten by the West Indies at Headingley last week.

England captain Joe Root is confident Woakes will "come back strong" after he was replaced by Roland-Jones for the deciding Test at Lord's.

Root pointed to Roland-Jones' knowledge of the playing surface at his home ground for the decision.

Toby Roland-Jones to take five first inns wickets against West Indies - 12/1 with Sky Bet

Root told Sky Sports: "Home conditions, he (Roland-Jones) obviously knows the surfaces and is bowling very well at the moment.

"It's obviously very difficult to leave somebody like Chris out, he's been a consistent performer in Test cricket for England. But this is a team I think is going to win this week.

"There's plenty of cricket to be played throughout the rest of this summer and he's a fantastic performer across all formats. I fully expect him to come back strong."

The England skipper is confident his side can bounce back from the second Test defeat and win the series, with the Ashes rapidly approaching.

"Credit to the West Indies they played very well last week, but we're a strong side and we've shown over the course of this summer and in the past that we've been able to come back from difficult weeks and this is another opportunity for us to show good character and do just that," Root said.

"I thought we showed great character last week, coming back into the game after a poor start.

"The way we came from a difficult position to get into a position where we could potentially win the game was a great effort and this is another opportunity for us to win a series, so that's the way we will be looking at it and we must make sure we start well and hopefully carry that forward.

"Every time you go out there and play Test cricket you are going to have to show great character and mental strength and physical fitness to come out on top.

"We go into every game trying win, I know that sounds pretty obvious but you want good results in behind you going into a big series like that (the Ashes), but more importantly we want to make sure that we play well this week and win this series."

Related links

Like what you've read?

MOST READ

Sporting Life
Join for free!
Access to exclusive features all for FREE - No monthly subscription fee
Race Replays
My stable horse tracker
giftOffers and prize draws
newsExclusive content

Next Off

Fixtures & Results

Fetching latest games....