England Names 12-Player Squad for First Test Against New Zealand at Lord's
England Squad Announcement and Key Details
June 2 (Reuters) - England announced their 12-player squad for the first test against New Zealand, which begins at Lord's on Thursday.
Full 12-Player Squad
Ben Stokes (captain), Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Josh Tongue.
Squad Selection Highlights
Spin and Bowling Choices
• Shoaib Bashir has been picked as first-choice spinner despite not featuring in the entire Ashes series.
• Ollie Robinson makes his return to the test squad for the first time since February 2024 while spinner Rehan Ahmed has been dropped.
New Faces and Omissions
• Two uncapped players, top-order batsman Emilio Gay and fast bowler Sonny Baker, were included.
• Zak Crawley has been dropped following his poor performance during the Ashes while fast bowler Jofra Archer has been left out after featuring in the recent Indian Premier League.
Series Context
Recent Performance
• England are playing their first test series since losing the Ashes 4-1 to Australia.
Upcoming Fixtures
• England are playing a three-test series against New Zealand with matches at The Oval and Trent Bridge to follow later this month.
Reporting and Editing
(Reporting by Paras J. Haji in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
