England announce squad for Test series against Pakistan

After lifting the Wisden trophy for the last time, England focus on their next red-ball assignment, a 3-match Test Series against Pakistan starting from the 5th of August. The England selectors have decided against making any changes to the squad from the West Indies series.

ECB Chief Selector Ed Smith explained his decision to keep faith with the same 14-man squad, by saying, “After three Tests in quick succession against the West Indies, we now turn to an equally condensed Test series against Pakistan, with 15 days of Test cricket scheduled in a three-week period.

“County cricket now restarts on Saturday 1st August. We want to have sufficient reserves inside the bio-secure Test match ‘bubble’, but we may also want to give opportunities, where possible, for the reserves to play county cricket. As we seek the best balance here, England may make changes to the reserves during the three-match series against Pakistan.”

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Here is the squad (in alphabetical order):

Joe Root (c)

James Anderson

Jofra Archer

Dominic Bess

Stuart Broad

Rory Burns

Jos Buttler (wk)

Zak Crawley

Sam Curran

Ollie Pope

Dom Sibley

Ben Stokes

Chris Woakes

Mark Wood

Reserve players:

James Bracey (wk)

Ben Foakes (wk)

Jack Leach

Dan Lawrence

The 18 players were allowed to head home for a few days straight after the conclusion of the final Test against West Indies to spend with their families. They will assemble at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday (August 2) ahead of the commencement of the Test series.