Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Matthew Henry
- Role, BBC Sport Journalist
Nottinghamshire fast bowler Dillon Pennington and Surrey wicketkeeper Jamie Smith have earned their first Test call-ups as part of England’s squad to play West Indies next month.
Uncapped Surrey fast bowler Gus Atkinson, who was on the Test tour of India earlier this year but did not play, is also included.
Shoaib Bashir has been picked as England’s spinner instead of Somerset team-mate Jack Leach.
All-rounder Chris Woakes is included in a Test squad for the first time since last summer’s Ashes.
The first Test begins on 10 July at Lord’s and will be James Anderson’s final Test before his international retirement.
This squad, minus Anderson, also covers the second Test at Trent Bridge from 18 July.
The third Test at Edgbaston starts on 26 July.
England squad for first two Tests: Ben Stokes (Durham, capt), James Anderson (Lancashire – first Test only), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Surrey), Dillon Pennington (Nottinghamshire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey, wk), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
Durham’s Matthew Potts is the other pace bowler picked, meaning there is no place for Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson.
Mark Wood has also been left out, although he has been part of the England T20 World Cup squad in the Caribbean.
As expected, Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow have both been overlooked in favour of highly rated 23-year-old Smith, who played two one-day internationals against Ireland last year.
Smith has scored 507 runs at an average of 50.70 in the County Championship this year, but only two of those matches have been as wicketkeeper, with Surrey preferring Foakes with the gloves.
Pennington, 25, moved to Nottinghamshire from Worcestershire prior to this season and has taken 29 wickets in seven matches this campaign.
Bashir’s selection suggests he has overtaken Leach as England’s first-choice spinner, despite having to leave their county on loan for Worcestershire because Leach has been preferred.
Leach, who also missed the 2023 Ashes with a back stress fracture, injured his knee in the first Test in India and was ruled out of the remainder of the tour.
Bashir came in for the second Test and took 17 wickets in three matches, including two five-wicket hauls.
Fixtures
10-14 1st Test, Lord’s (11:00 BST)
18-22 2nd Test, Trent Bridge (11:00 BST)
26-30 3rd Test, Edgbaston (11:00 BST)
‘Fresh and exciting, a new chapter of the Stokes-McCullum story’ – analysis
Stephan Shemilt, chief cricket writer
If the India series was the end of the beginning of the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum project, then this is definitely a fresh start for the second part of their tenure, building to – and probably ending with – the Ashes down under in 2025-26.
James Anderson had already been told it was time to move on, but the removal of Bairstow, Foakes, and Leach, three regulars during Stokes’ time as captain, is brutal and decisive.
The feeling was England would be on the lookout for a new keeper but Smith is a left-field move, with many thinking the battle would be between Durham’s Ollie Robinson and Lancashire’s Phil Salt.
The omission of Leach, a key Stokes ally, is more of a surprise, but there are doubts over his fitness – he has not played a full part in a Test for more than a year. He has also struggled in Australia before and England are intrigued by what Bashir can offer.
The interesting element of this selection is that, in choosing Smith over Foakes and Bashir over Leach, England have chosen two men who are understudies at their counties to the men they are replacing in the national side.
If we are to assume Mark Wood will return after a rest, the other notable absentee is the seam-bowling Ollie Robinson. It feels like he has plenty to do to win back England’s trust after a hugely disappointing tour of India.
Those who say the England set-up is too cosy, that they only pick their favourites, can do so no longer. This is a fresh and exciting squad, a new chapter in the fascinating Stokes-McCullum story.