England has announced their playing 11 for the first test against West Indies at Lord’s which begins on Wednesday.
England Names Playing 11 for First test against West Indies
England is set to host a two-match Test series against West Indies starting on July 10. On this occasion, England has named the playing 11 featuring two debutants duo Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith for the first test while Chris Woakes also returned to the squad after being named as the player of the series in Ashes 2023.
Meanwhile, the off-spinner Shoaib Bashir is set to make his home debut after playing three tests in India earlier this year. Atkinson who has made 12 appearances for England across ODI and T20Is, saw an opportunity in 2023 summer which earned his selection of the ODI World Cup in 2023 but was not part of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and Caribbean.
This season, he plays for Surrey picking 14 wickets in County Championship 2024 where the club stands first in Division One. Meanwhile, England has picked Jamie Smith as the wicketkeeper among three including Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow.
One man playing his 188th Test 🐐
Two men playing their first 👀Our Test XI to take on the West Indies is here 👇
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 8, 2024
The 23-year-old WK-Batter had an impressive run across all formats and earned his maiden call-up with his second first-class century of the season. Currently, he scores 677 runs with an average of 56.41 and a strike rate of 76.67 and is also Surrey’s top run scorer.
He played in two ODIs against Ireland by the end of the summer and will bat at No.7. Harry Brook will be returning to the squad after missing the India test series following the death of his grandmother.
Ben Stokes will be positioned at 6, leaving a slot open for Bashir. After putting on a stunning performance against India, England has brought in the spinner ahead of Jack Leach.
Chirs Woakes in 8 will add balance to the batting lineup that will be part of this summer which is set to be a transitional period for England with the retirement of James Anderson who recently picked a seven-wicket haul for Lancashire.
England playing 11
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Bens Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (Wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.
