After James Anderson’s emotional farewell at Lord’s last Friday, he might be replaced in England’s XI for this week’s second Test against the West Indies in Nottingham by Dillon Pennington – a bowler who has modelled himself on Stuart Broad.
Gus Atkinson, whose haul of 12 for 106 saw him named man of the match during England’s innings win in the first Test, is certainly one bowler with a bright future.
In terms of replacing the retiring Anderson at Trent Bridge this week, Mark Wood, called into the squad over the weekend, and Matthew Potts, who broke through in the first summer of Bazball in 2022, are two options.
Yet England will be tempted to blood another debutant in Nottingham, with Pennington the natural choice to come into the XI this week.
The 25-year-old has already replaced Broad, who retired at the end of last summer’s Ashes series, in the Nottinghamshire attack after moving to Trent Bridge from Worcestershire over the winter.
His 31 County Championship wickets at 23.80 were enough to see him called into the squad for this three-match series against the West Indies. And giving him a debut at his adopted home ground this week would make perfect sense.
Broad also made the move to Trent Bridge, from Leicestershire, at a similar stage in his career. At 6ft 2in, Pennington does not have the height of Broad, who is 6ft 6in. But they are bowlers with similar qualities, hitting the pitch hard and bowling consistently around the 85-86 miles-per-hour mark.
Speaking two years ago, Pennington admitted: “I’d relate myself to Stuart Broad. I aspire to take a similar career path to him really. He got picked for England a little younger but we’re similar bowlers in some sorts of ways so hopefully I can try and keep going with the skills I have which are similar to what he gets wickets with and follow on from that.”
If Pennington gets anywhere close to achieving half of what Broad did – 604 Test wickets and four Ashes series wins – he would have had some career.
But the similarities between the two don’t end there, with Pennington working on his bowling action this winter with Kevin Shine at Nottinghamshire to enhance his wicket-taking capabilities.
Shine also played an integral part in remodelling Anderson’s action earlier in his career when he was England’s bowling coach.
But it is his work with Pennington, tweaking his action to give him more control, time and alignment when delivering the ball at the crease, that mirrors what he did with Broad towards the end of his career.
It has allowed Pennington to bowl faster for longer.
“It’s more with my action – just try and create a bit more flow,” he said.
“I’ve changed my load-up a tiny bit, but it’s actually going back to when I was 18. I had a similar thing. So we’ve basically gone back in time, but with the strength work I’ve done and the bits I’ve done at Worcester, all that has combined.
“It’s helped with my engine. I’m able to go for a bit longer and the consistency of pace has got better. I’m definitely in a place where I’m confident to go into international cricket now.”
Pennington first emerged during the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, where he took six wickets. Later that year, former South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel admitted he had been “blown away” by Pennington’s potential during a County Championship match.
Now he is on the brink of showing what he can do on the international stage.