Surrey wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and Nottinghamshire quick Dillon Pennington have been called up to the England Test squad for the first time as Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum begin a ruthless reshaping of their side.
Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes have both been dropped for the upcoming series against West Indies, as has seamer Ollie Robinson, while young spinner Shoaib Bashir has been preferred to Jack Leach, the first-choice option throughout the Stokes and McCullum era so far.
The First Test of the three-match series, starting on July 10 at Lord’s, will be the last of James Anderson’s career, and England are looking to the future in the fast-bowling department, with uncapped Surrey man Gus Atkinson also included alongside Pennington and Matthew Potts recalled.
The headline decision, though, is behind the stumps, with Bairstow and Foakes both axed after playing all five Tests during the winter’s tour of India and Smith drafted in, despite not ‘keeping regularly in the County Championship.
Bairstow, who kept wicket during last summer’s Ashes after recovering from a horrendous leg-break, played as a specialist batter in India but failed to reach 40 in ten innings. His schedule over the last eight months has also been brutal, with triplet stints in India across the ODI World Cup, Test tour and IPL, followed by the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, which finished yesterday.
Foakes, meanwhile, is regarded as one of the world’s best glovemen and kept brilliantly in India but struggled with the bat. In home conditions, where ‘keeping is traditionally more straightforward, England are prioritising an aggressive run-maker who can hit out with the tail.
That has opened the door to Smith, long heralded as a future Test star and preferred to Durham’s in-form Ollie Robinson as the coming man. The 23-year-old averages 50.7 in the Championship this year and has 285 runs in the Vitality Blast, striking at north of 200. While his only ‘keeping opportunities in red-ball cricket have come when Foakes has been injured, he is Surrey’s regular white-ball ‘keeper.
England’s decision to go with Smith ahead of Foakes is not the only instance of a county pecking order being flipped on its head.
Bashir was sent out on loan to Worcestershire earlier this month but has been picked by England ahead of Somerset teammate Leach, after an impressive debut tour of India this winter. Leach, for his part, has been extremely unlucky with injuries over the past year, suffering a stress fracture of the back that saw him miss the Ashes, then picking up a knee injury midway through the First Test of the India tour.
Youngsters Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley also played prominent roles in India, but were seen as specialist picks for spinning conditions and England have tended to rely on just one front-line option on home soil.
Sussex seamer Robinson, meanwhile, has been left out after struggling with a back injury that limited him to just one appearance on the India tour. He has endured an underwhelming season thus far on the county scene and last week conceded 43 runs in an over against Leicestershire, easily a Championship record.
Anderson will bow out after the Lord’s Test, leaving Chris Woakes – back in the squad for the first time since being named player of the series during the Ashes – as the obvious spearhead of an otherwise inexperienced attack.
Pennington, who was name-checked by managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key when discussing potential Anderson replacements earlier this summer, is rewarded for his 29 wickets in seven matches since swapping Worcestershire for Nottinghamshire ahead of the new campaign.
The batting ranks, by comparison, remain settled. Harry Brook is back after pulling out of the India tour for personal reasons, while Dan Lawrence continues as the spare-batter, though he also offers a second spin option having taken 15 Championship wickets since joining Surrey this season.
England squad to face West Indies:
Ben Stokes (Durham)
James Anderson* (Lancashire)
Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
Shoaib Bashir (Somerset)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Dan Lawrence (Surrey)
Dillon Penningston (Nottinghamshire)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Matthew Potts (Durham)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Jamie Smith (Surrey)
Chris Woakes (Worcestershire)
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