England have announced their starting lineup for the Headingley Test with James Anderson being dropped from the lineup with Chris Woakes and Mark Wood coming into the side. England have made three changes to the side as Anderson, Josh Tongue and Ollie Pope make way for Moeen Ali, Woakes and Wood. Pope has already been ruled out of the rest of the Ashes series after he sustained a shoulder injury while fielding in the Lord's Test. England have also named Moeen Ali in the eleven, in the absence of the injured Ollie Pope. Ali pips Dan Lawrence for the spot with Harry Brook slotted in to bat at No. 3.Anderson's lacklustre performances in the two Tests had forced him to write an honest appraisal in his column in The Telegraph.
"You want to contribute in the big series and I cannot remember having two such quiet games in a row for at least the past 10 years."I feel like I have always contributed at some stage. But I do not think I am bowling particularly badly; I am just going through a lean patch, which you do not want to happen in an Ashes ... I am saying lean patch but it is only two games out of 181."I am not going to criticise the pitch again. They have not suited me so far but I have found ways of getting wickets in the past on flat pitches. At the moment I am just not finding that knack. "However, when you see the best bowlers in the world slamming it into the middle of the pitch, it is not great viewing. If you asked all the bowlers on show at Lord's, they will say they want to try other skills as well," he had written. The 41-year old pacer also felt that his age was not a factor influencing his performances. "It comes with the territory at my age for people to speculate about my future. But I understand. It is a high-profile series and you get put under the spotlight a bit more and the easy target is to say he is getting on a bit. But the reason I have not taken wickets is not because of my age."I am not thinking about the future. The future for me is just thinking about Thursday and the start of the next Test. That is as far ahead as I will look. If I get the nod, I will put in a performance the team need. If not, I will keep working hard and play a role at some stage across the series," he wrote
