Stokes was only thinking of Bangladesh before final delivery

England captain Ben Stokes believes Mark Wood can become the first bowler to be clocked in excess of 100mph (161kmh) during a Test match following his Durham team-mate's thrilling display at Trent Bridge.

Wood hit a top speed of 97.1mph as England won the second Test against the West Indies by 241 runs to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in a three-match series ahead of this week's finale at Edgbaston.

The 34-year-old only took two wickets in the match but the effect of his sheer pace contributed to successes at the other end, notably for off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who sealed England's first series win since 2002 with a second-innings haul of 5-41.

And Wood made his presence felt more directly by forcing West Indies to change their side for a third Test starting Friday when he fractured the forearm of Kevin Sinclair with a rapid bouncer.

Australia's Mitchell Starc holds the current record for the fastest recorded delivery in a Test, at 99.6mph against New Zealand in 2015.

Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar possesses the all-format international record after the 'Rawalpindi Express' sent down a 100.2mph thunderbolt against England in 2003, although many outstanding fast bowlers of earlier generations did not always have their deliveries timed accurately.

'Phenomenal'

Stokes said Wood still had something left "in the tank" when it came to breaking the 100mph barrier but, speaking during a pre-match press conference at Edgbaston on Thursday. added: "I don't know if he's actually too bothered about it.

"He seems to be getting closer and closer to that (100mph mark), but I'm happy with what he's doing now to be honest.

"Being able to sustain that pace is quite phenomenal.

"His average speed every time he plays a Test match is always above 90mph –- it's all fine and well trying to bowl one spell above 90 but every spell he bowls for England he's clocking over 90mph," added Stokes as he reflected on the sheer physical effort of his county colleague.

And Stokes was more than happy with how Wood, whose 35-match Test career has been blighted by injuries, was bowling right now.

"You have to hold your hands up and celebrate what we have there," Stokes said. "He (Wood) has got the heart of a lion. He runs in spell after spell, ball after ball.

"When be bowls the whole game changes. When his name is read out the whole crowd is up, then when the speeds are on the big screen everyone gets going.

"Woody is always looking up at the screen as well to see what he's clocking. He knows he's in the team to not only bowl skilfully, but also fast."

Ben Stokes returns as captain for England's three-Test tour of Pakistan next month while Brydon Carse could make his debut just weeks after completing a ban for breaches of betting rules.

Stokes will skipper the side after missing the 2-1 home series win against Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury. Opener Zak Crawley is also in the squad announced on Tuesday after missing the same series with a broken finger.

Bowling all-rounder Carse, who returned to action in late August after serving a three-month ban for historical betting violations, appears to be the main beneficiary of a year-ending elbow injury to Durham team-mate and fellow quick Mark Wood.

The South Africa-born 29-year-old, who has featured in 17 white-ball internationals for England, takes his place in a 17-strong squad alongside another player yet to make his Test bow, Jordan Cox.

The tour is scheduled to get under way on October 7 in Multan.

There are due to be further Tests in Karachi and Rawalpindi but renovations ahead of next year's Champions Trophy are causing problems at those venues.

One or more of the games could be moved to the United Arab Emirates or Sri Lanka.

Dan Lawrence, a makeshift opener against Sri Lanka in the absence of Crawley, has been dropped.

Young left-arm fast bowler Josh Hull has been retained while Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed -- two spinners who featured in England's historic 3-0 series whitewash over Pakistan in 2022 -- are recalled.

Leach was displaced as England's number one spinner this season by Shoaib Bashir but the Somerset pair, plus Leicestershire's Ahmed, form Stokes's trio of frontline slow bowling options.

England squad for three-match Test tour of Pakistan:

Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

Captain Ben Stokes admitted that Noman Ali and Sajid Khan were too good for his England team after the spin duo propelled Pakistan to a series victory on Saturday.

The hosts sealed a nine-wicket win in the third Test in Rawalpindi with Noman taking 6-42 and Sajid 4-69 in the second innings as England were bowled out for just 112.

The irrepressible pair shared 39 wickets in the last two Tests to spur Pakistan's revival from an innings defeat in the first match.

"You've got to hold your hands up to say that those two in particular were obviously too good for our batting line-up in those last two games," Stokes said.

Noman and Sajid both came into the side following Pakistan's heavy defeat in the first Test in Multan, their inclusion proving pivotal in the hosts' 2-1 series triumph.

"Credit to Noman and Sajid, the way in which they bowled in the second Test match and in this game, you know it was very good and challenging," said Stokes.

Stokes said the series defeat was all the more disappointing with England having whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 away two years ago.

"Losing games for England hurts so it's disappointing," said Stokes, who missed the first Test in Multan with injury and failed to find form with the bat on his return.

The talismanic Stokes has been central to England's attacking philosophy, which saw records tumble in the victory in the first Multan Test.

But he said consistency had been an issue since.

"We need to do things for longer," said Stokes, whose team next tours New Zealand for a three-Test series in late November.

"As I said, we did good things in very small amounts of times at certain points throughout the second game and this game.

"But when you don't sustain that, you know you're always going to start falling away."

England Test captain Ben Stokes is set to begin the Indian Premier League as a batsman only after having a cortisone injection in his troublesome left knee ahead of the Ashes, according to Mike Hussey.

Stokes was signed by the Chennai Super Kings for an impressive fee of $1.96 million in December.

But the star all-rounder was not fully fit during England's recent tour of New Zealand, and after bowling just two overs in a dramatic one-run defeat in the second Test in Wellington the 31-year-old said: "I'm not going to lie, it's incredibly frustrating knowing something has been holding me back from performing as I'd like to."

England and Wales Cricket Board medical staff have been working closely with their Chennai counterparts to manage Stokes' workload ahead of the five-Test Ashes series against Australia in England starting in June.

Super Kings batting coach Hussey, who worked with Stokes during England's victorious Twenty20 World Cup campaign in November, said he would be looked after in the latest edition of the T20 extravaganza IPL starting Friday.

"The physios from Chennai and the ECB are working pretty closely together," former Australia batsman Hussey, 47, told Britain's PA news agency and ESPNcricinfo.

"He (Stokes) is ready to go as a batsman from the start, the bowling might be wait and see. I know he had his first very light bowl this week since he had his injections in his knee.

"My understanding is he won't be bowling much at all in the first few games of the tournament, or it might be a few weeks, I'm not 100 percent sure. But hopefully we'll get him bowling at some stage in the tournament."

Hussey, who played in 79 Tests, jokingly referenced Stokes's importance to England in the Ashes by saying: "From an Australian perspective I'm going to hope he bowls 20 or 30 overs in nets.

"We'll be running him into the ground and I'll be making sure he does extra weight sessions and run throughs to put pressure on that body.

"I'm joking obviously," insisted Hussey who will be in charge of the Welsh Fire during English domestic cricket's Hundred competition later this year.

"I want a fit Ben Stokes playing his best cricket at the Ashes. I want both teams at their best, going hard at it and I think it will be an unbelievable series to watch.

"He's going to be huge for us (at Chennai) too, particularly if we can get him bowling."
 

England captain Ben Stokes said Saturday he will miss the first Test against Pakistan starting next week, after failing to recover from a hamstring injury.

The 33-year-old Stokes has been out since the start of August with a hamstring tear suffered during The Hundred, missing his team's 2-1 home Test series win against Sri Lanka last month.

Top-order batter Ollie Pope, who led the side against Sri Lanka, will stand in again for the first of three matches starting in the central city of Multan on Monday.

"I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this game," Stokes told reporters. "But have taken the call to miss this one because I've not quite managed to get game ready."

All-rounder Stokes was at team practice on Friday and Saturday, batting in the nets and bowling a few deliveries with a short start.

But the skipper said he was "not sure" he would participate in the second Test -- also in Multan and slated for October 15.

"I've pushed myself incredibly hard and worked really hard with the medical team to get to where I'm at now," he said.

"I think I'm further ahead than what we expected. I'll be working just as hard over the next ten days to try to get myself fit for the second Test."

Late last month the England and Wales Cricket Board said Stokes had been "on track" to play against Pakistan.

"There is a lot that has to go into my rehab programme," he said. "It's always frustrating to miss out."

With Stokes out, England announced their eleven for the first Test, giving pace bowler Brydon Carse his debut in the longer format.

The tourists will enter the Test with three pacers in Carse, Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes, alongside the spin duo of Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir.

Opener Zak Crawley also returns to the squad after missing the Sri Lanka series with a fractured finger.

England XI: Ollie Pope (captain), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes