(Reuters) – England have named an unchanged squad for the first two tests of the five-match Ashes series against Australia, with seamer Josh Tongue retaining his place after an impressive debut against Ireland this week.
Tongue was initially drafted into the squad after injury concerns over James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who were rested for the Ireland test but are expected to be fit to face Australia when the first test begins at Edgbaston on June 16.
Worcestershire seamer Tongue took three wickets on day two as England closed on a comprehensive victory over Ireland at Lord’s in their only warm-up test before the Ashes.
England do have concerns about the fitness of their captain Ben Stokes who has a longstanding knee problem and was in obvious pain after taking a catch to dismiss Ireland’s Curtis Campher on Saturday.
England squad: Ben Stokes (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad, editing by Ed Osmond)
