Table of Contents
- Jimmy Anderson will play his last game for England in the first Test
- England have decided to call upon some new faces to take on the West Indies.
- Jamie Smith, Dillon Pennington and Gus Atkinson, who did not play for the national team, are part of the team
Jimmy Anderson’s farewell to international cricket will coincide with new beginnings for England’s Test team following the decision to call on the unseen Jamie Smith behind the stumps.
Anderson, who will win his 188th and final Test title three weeks before his 42nd birthday, will join the XI to face the West Indies at Lord’s from July 10 by Smith, chosen as wicketkeeper ahead of his Surrey teammate Ben Foakes.
England have opted to select a player who does not even keep wicket for his county in four-day cricket after spending the first two years of the Bazball era alternating between Foakes and Jonny Bairstow for the role.
Both struggled to establish themselves with the bat, as indeed the team did, in the series loss to India earlier in the year and the selectors have now overlooked them both for a 23-year-old whose audacious hitting of ball fits England’s attacking mantra: he averages 50.7 in the County Championship and has hit a competition-high 24 sixes in the Vitality Blast this season.
It is a further indication, following Anderson’s retirement, that England are thinking about developing a team that can compete in next year’s Ashes.
Jimmy Anderson’s final international match will be England’s first Test of the summer against the West Indies at Lord’s.
England have named a youthful-looking squad, with Jamie Smith (pictured) in line for his Test debut.
Fast bowler Dillon Pennington (pictured) has also been called up for the first time.
Gus Atkinson (pictured) took part in England’s tour of India earlier this year but did not play. He could be ready for his Test debut this summer after rejoining the team.
The appointment of a 14-man squad to cover both matches at Lord’s and Trent Bridge has also opened up the possibility of two debutant pace bowlers, Dillon Pennington and Gus Atkinson, seeking wickets alongside Anderson, who has 700 of them in a stellar Test career.
“The first Test of the summer is always a special moment, but it will be even more poignant because it will be Jimmy’s last Test before he retires,” said Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket.
“He has given everything to the game since his Test debut in 2003. We would all like to wish him the best as he takes to the field at Lord’s for the last time for England.”
Pennington has been outstanding since moving from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire, where he succeeded Stuart Broad with the new ball and claimed 29 top-flight Championship caps.
Atkinson, a year older than Pennington at 26, took 14 wickets for leaders Surrey and was an unused member of the squad on the tour of India.
Chris Woakes, the man of the series in last year’s Ashes thriller, returns home after his struggles abroad led to him being omitted from the group sent to the subcontinent, while the only spinner selected is Shoaib Bashir.
Shoaib Bashir (pictured) has kept the faith of the selectors despite enduring a difficult season that saw him out on loan.
Dan Lawrence (pictured) recently hit Bashir for five sixes in an over and is pushing for a batting place in the top six.
Although Bashir, 20, has struggled for game time this summer and was forced to go out on loan to Worcestershire due to the presence of the more experienced Jack Leach in Somerset, the England selectors have kept faith in a player who once again he has had problems when he has stood out.
Last year, he was granted a place on the winter tour despite having taken just 10 first-class wickets at 67 runs apiece. This time, he has just six at 76.83, and he suffered a drubbing at the hands of Dan Lawrence (also named in this squad and proving a useful spin option) in Worcestershire’s match against Surrey last week.
Lawrence bowled Bashir for five consecutive sixes at New Road in an over that cost 38 runs, but the player showed excellent temperament in three Tests over the winter, taking 17 wickets against Rohit Sharma’s team.
Test Series Dates
1st Test: England v West Indies, 10-14 July, Lord’s
Second Test: England v West Indies, July 18-22, Trent Bridge
Third Test: England v West Indies 26-30 July, Edgbaston