Chris Woakes in, Jofra Archer out for England’s first Ashes Test against Australia
England have picked all-rounder Chris Woakes for the first Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston with paceman Jofra Archer missing out.
Woakes, 30, got the nod to play at his home ground after taking 6-17 against Ireland at Lord’s last week and will now team-up with prolific pairing James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
Archer missed the one-off Test after suffering with a side strain during England’s World Cup win earlier in the month.
All-rounder Sam Curran and fast bowler Olly Stone are the other two players to miss out from the 14-man squad named by England on Saturday.
More to follow…
- Watch the 2019 Ashes on Sky Sports
- Root to bat at three, Denly at four in first Test
Australia captain Tim Paine, meanwhile, said the tourists would not name their team until Thursday morning.
Mitchell Starc, the leading wicket-taker at the Cricket World Cup, could be left out in favour of Peter Siddle or Josh Hazlewood according to reports but Paine would not be drawn.
“I have (settled on a team) but I don’t get the final say, so we’ll have a team tomorrow at the toss,” he said.
“Our quicks that have been here before have learned lessons from being here before. It’s important that we learn from them and put what we’ve learned into practice in this series.”
Source: Read Full Article