England Announce Squad for 1st Test vs New Zealand; Ashes Failures Dropped, 3 New Names Included
England has named their Test squad for the first Test against New Zealand cricket team starting at Lord's on June 4th with many looking at the omission of Zak Crawley from the side following the sides poor Ashes series in Australia.
England lost the Ashes 4-1 down under in January and have a number of new faces as they look to move forward under Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. Durham batter Emilio Gay
Crawley is a surprising omission following a disappointing County Championship campaign with Kent. He has averaged just 31 from 64 matches at Test level and had a nightmare Ashes series.
England Reward County Form and Youth
Gay, 26, who has scored 552 runs at an average of 92 in county cricket for Durham this season seems likely to open at the top of the order alongside Ben Duckett. James Rew is one of county cricket's best young batters but still expected to keep his place as first choice keeper over Jamie Smith.
Having been left out previously for fitness concerns and attitude issues, fast bowler Ollie Robinson gets a recall to the side with fast bowler Matthew Fisher also returning and the inclusion of spinners Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir both of whom failed to make an appearance in the Ashes series. Archer is expected to make his return later in the summer and was not considered for selection.
Rob Key on England selection
England managing director Rob Key stated that the squad is balanced between experienced individuals and developing talent.
"We’ve selected a squad that we believe has a really exciting blend of proven international quality, strong county form and players with huge potential to develop at Test level."
He added:
"Emilio, James and Sonny have all earned their opportunities through consistent performances and have impressed us not only with their talent, but with the way they’ve gone about their cricket in high-pressure situations."
It has also been announced that Marcus North has been brought on board as national selector and played a role in picking the team for the first Test.
England Squad for 1st Test vs NZ: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.