England announce unchanged squad for Pakistan Tests: England have released some players to allow them to take part in the Bob Willis Trophy.
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England have announced an unchanged 14-man squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against Pakistan starting from August 5. Coming on the back of defeating West Indies 2-1, England have given the impression of sticking with their winning combination.
English players had left for their homes after the third Test against West Indies ended yesterday. The players will now regroup at the Old Trafford on August 2 (Sunday) where the first Test will be played.
“After three Tests in quick succession against the West Indies, we now turn to an equally condensed Test series against Pakistan, with 15 days of Test cricket scheduled in a three-week period. Our 14-man squad is unchanged,” England National Selectors Ed Smith said in a statement.
England announce unchanged squad for Pakistan Tests
Despite plying inside bio-secure bubbles, England have also reduced their number of reserves to allow players take part in the Bob Willis Trophy which is starting from August 1.
“County cricket now restarts on Saturday 1st August. We want to have sufficient reserves inside the bio-secure Test match ‘bubble’, but we may also want to give opportunities, where possible, for the reserves to play county cricket,” Smith said about releasing reserve players.
It is worth mentioning that the English team will be accompanied by only four reserves namely James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Jack Leach (Somerset) and Dan Lawrence (Essex) for the Pakistan Test series.
It was only a couple of days ago that Pakistan had announced a 20-man squad for the three-match series.
England 14-man squad for Pakistan series
Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
