England has named a 14-man squad for the first two Tests against the West Indies, including uncapped players Dillon Pennington from Nottinghamshire and Jamie Smith from Surrey. The matches will be held at Lords and Trent Bridge.
Dillon Pennington, a fast bowler, has been impressive for Nottinghamshire, taking 29 wickets at an average of 23.03 in Division One of the ongoing County Championship. Jamie Smith, an attacking batter and wicket-keeper, has scored 507 runs in the Championship at an average of 50.70. With Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow not included, Smith is set to make his debut at Lord’s.
Congratulations, lads! 👊
Our Men's squad for the first two Tests against @windiescricket #EnglandCricket | #ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/mmPqlKDqZf
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 30, 2024
Missing from the squad that toured India earlier this year are Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, and Mark Wood. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir retains his place. Gus Atkinson, who was selected for the India tour but didn’t play, remains in the squad. Chris Woakes returns to the team, playing his first Test since last year’s Ashes.
Legendary fast bowler James Anderson is included for the first Test only, which will be his 188th and final game for England. Anderson, who debuted in 2003, has taken 700 wickets.
“The first Test of the summer is always special, but it will be extra poignant with it being Jimmy’s last Test before he retires. He has given everything to the sport since his Test debut in 2003. We all would like to wish him well as he walks out at Lord’s for the last time for England,” said a team spokesperson. “We are looking forward to getting the season underway against a strong West Indies side in what will be an excellent Test series.”
The squad for the third and final Test at Edgbaston will be announced later.
Squad for First Two Matches:
– Ben Stokes (C)
– James Anderson (first Test only)
– Gus Atkinson
– Shoaib Bashir
– Harry Brook
– Zak Crawley
– Joe Root
– Ben Duckett
– Dan Lawrence
– Dillon Pennington
– Ollie Pope
– Matthew Potts
– Jamie Smith (WK)
– Chris Woakes