In a major change to England's red-ball cricket team, the Three Lions dropped veteran wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes from their squad for the upcoming Test series against West Indies on Sunday, June 30.
England announced a 14-member squad for two Tests against West Indies and handed debut to uncapped Jamie Smith and Dillon Pennington. Smith, the 23-year-old wicketkeeper, is set to be England's first-choice wicketkeeping option in Tests ahead of Bairstow and Foakes, who struggled for runs against India in the last assignment earlier this year.
Test regulars Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood also failed to find a place in the new-look Ben Stokes-led side. England will host the Caribbean side in two Tests starting on July 10 at Lord's. The legendary pacer James Anderson will retire after Lord's Test and is expected to be replaced by debutant Dillon Pennington for the second match at Trent Bridge starting on July 18.
"The first Test of the summer is always a special moment, but it will be extra poignant with it being Jimmy's last Test before he retires," England men's managing director, Rob Key, said. "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.
"We are looking forward to getting the season underway against a strong West Indies side in what will be an excellent Test series."
Both Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood featured in England's squad for the recent T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies where Jos Buttler's side suffered a heavy defeat against eventual champions India in the second semi-final.
England Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes.
