England names 16-member squad for first two Ashes Tests
The England team is slated to report to Birmingham on Monday 12 June. They are due to practice at Edgbaston from Tuesday 13 June.
In a recent development, the Three Lions have named an unchanged 16-player squad for the first two LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes Test matches against Australia starting at Edgbaston on Friday 16 June 2023. The England team is slated to report to Birmingham on Monday 12 June. They are due to practice at Edgbaston from Tuesday 13 June.
Tongue, making his Test debut against Ireland, is retained in the seam attack with Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper. The first Ashes Test starts on 16 June at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Robinson and Anderson missed out on the Ireland Test as they recover from minor injuries but are expected to be fit for the Ashes. Bairstow played in his first Test since August 2022 but did not bat in England's first innings.
Chris Woakes, initially left out in place of Tongue for the Ireland Test, is in contention as England named their full squad. Zak Crawley, who was criticized for his performances at the top of the order scored 56 against Ireland and looks set to continue in that position for the first two Tests.
If he can do the same against Australia, England will have no issues. However, his innings was a mixed bag, at times he chased runs and could have been out early, but there were moments of beauty especially with some of his drives.
In fact, the only back-up batter in the squad is Dan Lawrence and returned to Essex to play in their Blast games after not getting selected for the four-day game
England squad: Ben Stokes (Durham captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Worcestershire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
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Ashes 2023 schedule
1st Test: England v Australia, 16-20 June, Edgbaston, Birmingham
2nd Test: England v Australia, 28 June-2 July, Lord’s, London
3rd Test: England v Australia, 6-10 July, Headingley, Leeds
4th Test: England v Australia, 19-23 July, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
5th Test: England v Australia, 27-31 Kia Oval, London
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