The England Men's Selection panel has announced the squad for the one-off Test against Ireland, starting on June 1st at Lord's. The 15-man Test squad sees the return of a few prominent players after a few injuries as the Men's Cricket's managing director Robert Key addressed the selections.
Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes return:
Yorkshire keeper-batter Jonny Bairstow has recovered from his leg injury suffered ahead of the final Test of the previous summer and is back in the squad. Warwickshire seamer Chris Woakes has also returned to the Test squad for the first time since March 2022 and will be his first Test appearance on home soil since September 2021.
Mark Wood, who took a break from the two-Test tour of New Zealand has been included to face Ireland. In yet another massive development, Ollie Pope has been appointed as the vice-captain, while there was no place for specialist keeper Ben Foakes. Commenting on the same, Key said, as quoted by ecb.co.uk:
"We are looking forward to the summer ahead and getting into the swing of things, starting with a good test against Ireland. It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad. He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about."
Jofra Archer ruled out of the entire summer:
Sussex speedster Jofra Archer will spend another lengthy time on the sidelines after a recurrence of a stress fracture to his right elbow. Key wished him a quick recovery and stated:
"It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer. He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later."
England's Test squad to face Ireland:
Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope (c), Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
