England want pace and bounce at Lord's, Jofra Archer 'ready to go'

England have asked for a pitch with "plenty of life in it" at Lord's this week as they prepare to welcome back Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson in their bid to recover from a 336-run drubbing by India at Edgbaston.

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum believe that the "subcontinent-style" surface prepared at Edgbaston - and the error Stokes made at the toss in choosing to bowl first - played into India's hands, and will look to better exploit their home advantage in Thursday's third Test. They are also weighing up changes to their fast-bowling attack after a gruelling week in the field.

Fast bowlers dominated the World Test Championship final at Lord's last month, with Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada both finding significant seam movement. McCullum appears to have a similar surface in mind and has requested "something with a bit more pace, a bit more bounce, and maybe a little bit of sideways" from MCC head groundsman Karl McDermott. "It'll be a blockbuster either way, but I think it's going to set up for a cracker - especially if there's plenty of life in it [the pitch]," he said.

India were caught cold on a green seamer at Lord's in 2018, but won a dramatic Test there four years ago. They will welcome Jasprit Bumrah back into their seam attack after he was rested in Birmingham and are anticipating a different type of surface. "Let's see what wicket they give us at Lord's," Shubman Gill, their captain, said. "My guess is that it won't be a flat one."

Archer trained with England ahead of the second Test and bowled on the practice strips throughout, gradually building up his workload after returning to first-class cricket for Sussex last month. A series of elbow and back injuries have kept him out of Test cricket since February 2021, but McCullum strongly hinted that he will return at the ground where he made his debut.

"He'll certainly be available for selection," he said. "Our seamers have gone two Tests on the spin and we've got a short turnaround before we head down to HQ. We'll let the dust settle on this one, but Jofra is looking fit, he's looking strong, he's looking ready to go, and he'll come into calculations. It's hugely exciting.

"He's loving being around the group, and it's great to have him. He's obviously been through his injuries and his time out of Test cricket. But we all know what he's capable of achieving in Test cricket, and we hope that when the opportunity does arrive for him, he's able to recapture and also improve on what he's been able to do already in that form of the game."

England will only have one full training session before the third Test starts on Thursday, with additional recovery time built into their schedule after 443 overs in the field across the first two Tests. They have cancelled Tuesday's optional session and for Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes, the focus will be on recuperation.

Atkinson has been a big miss for England after straining his hamstring against Zimbabwe, and his rehabilitation has taken longer than first anticipated. But he has been named in a 16-man squad for the third Test - in which Archer, Sam Cook and Jamie Overton are the other spare seamers - and has a remarkable record at Lord's, with a century and 19 wickets in two Tests there.

"We need to have a good look at Gus," McCullum said. "We'll just see how the dust settles on this [Test]. The guys had quite a heavy workload. When you chase a bit of leather, you obviously go pretty deep into your spells as well. So we'll see how they are, and then we'll make the decision when we get down the road."

England will resist the temptation to promote Jamie Smith up the order at Lord's after his 184 not out and 88 at Edgbaston. "He does look world-class," McCullum said. "We're very happy with him at No. 7 and with the gloves on. You wouldn't have done that to [Adam] Gilchrist, so I don't think we should do that to Smith."

Shoaib Bashir will also retain his spot after taking eye-watering match figures of 5 for 286 last week - the third-most expensive in England's Test history. Jacob Bethell worked closely with Jeetan Patel on his left-arm spin throughout the second Test, but McCullum confirmed that he is considered the spare batter rather than a potential allrounder at No. 8.

"He's a batting option," McCullum said. "He's the next one in if something happens, but we don't crowbar anything. He's taking the opportunity, while he's got some downtime away from playing and still being around the squad, to work on his spin, and I think that's got to be a good thing… But that's certainly not what we're looking at [bringing in Bethell for Bashir], at the moment.

"[Bashir] is a tough kid. We know how talented he is, and we believe he's got an immensely high ceiling. We know he's not the finished article yet, but I feel like he's getting better and better… I think he continues to improve, and when conditions allow, he's going to be a real force."