Ashes 2023: England name 16-man squad for first 2 Tests against Australia

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Saturday announced a 16-man squad for the first two Tests of the upcoming 5-match Ashes series against Australia. England retained the squad that has been taking on Ireland in their one-off Test at Lord's.

Ben Stokes will lead the England Test side for the first time in the Ashes and the all-rounder has helped create a bunch of match-winners, who have won 10 of their last 12 Tests. Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have played aggressive cricket, famously dubbed as the Bazball.

While Jonny Bairstow will continue to keep wickets, England have also retained Josh Tongue, who made his debut in the ongoing one-off Test against Ireland.

England Test squad for first 2 Ashes Tests

Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (captain), Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Jack Leach, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Daniel Lawrence.

England benched Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson, and Dan Lawrence for the one-off Test against Ireland and it is expected that Mark Wood and Anderson will replace Tongue and



Matthew Potts for the first Ashes Test.

It will be interesting to see if England will play Stuart Broad, who picked up a 5-wicket haul in the first innings of the Lord's Test against Ireland, and James Anderson together for the first Test as workload management for the two senior pacers has been a priority.

Anderson is racing against time to get fit for the first Ashes Test, which will be played from June 16 after having picked up a groin strain while playing for Lancashire in the County Championships in May.

The ECB also confirmed that the England Test squad members will report to Birmingham on Monday, 12 June. They are due to practice at Edgbaston from Tuesday 13 June. England are expected to win the Ireland Test before the 5th day (June 5) and it would allow them an extra few days of break.

Ashes 2023: Full Schedule:

1st Test: England v Australia, 16-20 June, Edgbaston, Birmingham

2nd Test: England v Australia, 28 June-2 July, Lord's, London

3rd Test: England v Australia, 6-10 July, Headingley, Leeds

4th Test: England v Australia, 19-23 July, Old Trafford, Manchester

5th Test: England v Australia, 27-31 Oval, London