Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow have been excluded from the 13-member England squad for next week’s first Test of the three-match series against the West Indies, they have not even named in the list of reserve players. Moeen has announced taking a break from the red-ball game. However, on Saturday, it was also announced that the all-rounder, Ben Stokes will be leading the England squad.
As for Moeen’s replacement, off-spinner Dom Bess has been included as the specialist spinner for the game scheduled to commence on July 8 in Southampton. However, Bairstow’s future in Test cricket was in serious since wicket-keeper, Jos Buttler was named as Stoke’s deputy after it was confirmed regular skipper Joe Root would miss the first Test to attend the birth of his second child.
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According to the squad, the youngsters like, Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, and Joe Denly will form the middle-order of the team in Root’s absence. However, Denly (if given a chance) will need to do well in the Southampton Test as he averages a modest 30 in his 14 Tests to date as Root will be making a comeback in the last two games of the series at Old Trafford.
Veteran pacer James Anderson and Stuart Broad are among a group of five fast bowlers in the squad, along with Barbados-born Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Chris Woakes. Uncapped batsman Dan Lawrence has been included in the problems along with Surrey left-arm all-rounder, Sam Curran, who tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday, and because of that, he missed the lone three-day intra-squad warm-up match at Southampton this week.
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Next week’s Test will be a historic moment for international cricket it will mark the comeback of the game after the forced break due to the coronavirus.
England squad:
Ben Stokes (capt), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, (wkt), Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Test reserves
James Bracey, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, Olly Stone
England v West Indies fixtures
- Jul 08-12: 1ST TEST, Ageas Bowl, Southampton
- Jul 16-20: 2ND TEST, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
- Jul 24-28: 3RD TEST, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
