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England has announced that a full-strength squad of 17 players will travel to Australia for this winter’s Ashes series.
There had been previous concerns that a number of players would make themselves unavailable for selection with worries over COVID-19 protocols in Australia.
Though, England head coach Chris Silverwood has been able to name a squad full of previously capped players, led by Joe Root for the five-match series which begins in Brisbane on December 8th.
After keeping his central contract, Zak Crawley is named amongst the group, despite being dropped from the side during the Test series against India this summer. He is joined by fellow top-order batsmen, Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns.
There is no place, however, for Warwickshire opener Dom Sibley, who appears not to be in the ECB’s long-term plans having lost his contract.
England will also be without star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who continues to recover from finger surgery having also taken an extended break from the game due to mental health reasons.
Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence make up the middle-order options alongside their captain Root and Jos Buttler. Injury to Sam Curran and the retirement of Moeen Ali means Chris Woakes is most likely to bat at seven, providing England opt to go with a specialist spinner.
Jack Leach and Dom Bess are the spin options available to Root, in spite of heavy calls for Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson to be named amongst the travelling contingent. The 24-year-old may feel hard-done after taking 36 wickets this season.
Fellow Lancastrians, Saqib Mahmood and Liam Livingstone also miss out, having been touted to make the squad by the likes of Michael Vaughan, David Lloyd and Nasser Hussain.
James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson join Woakes to make up the tourists’ pace attack. Jofra Archer and Olly Stone also miss out due to injury.
England head coach Chris Silverwood knows it will be a difficult Ashes series but is happy with the group of players he is able to take.
“I am delighted that all of our available players have committed to the tour.
“We are under no illusions about how difficult the task is going to be, Australia have been strong at home in the past, and there is an expectation on them to win this series.
“However, from our point of view, there is genuine excitement and belief that we can do something special.”
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