Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith to debut as England name XI for 1st Test against West Indies
The England cricket team have zeroed in on their playing XI ahead of the 1st Test against the West Indies, which begins on Wednesday, July 10, at Lord's in London. Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith will make their Test debuts, with the former receiving his maiden call-up to the 14-man squad.
Apart from speedster Gus Atkinson, Chris Woakes and James Anderson are the other two frontline seamers the hosts have opted for.
Woakes will play his first red-ball game for the national side since the 5th Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval last year. Anderson, meanwhile, is gearing up for what will be his 188th and final Test.
Shoaib Bashir, who made his first appearance during the India tour earlier this year, will feature in his first Test on English soil. Smith will also keep wickets at Lord's and has mainly been selected after scoring 500+ runs for Surrey in this year's County Championship.
England playing XI for 1st Test against West Indies: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk) Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.
England faced a 4-1 drubbing in India earlier this year
The English, led by Ben Stokes, suffered a resounding 4-1 series defeat to Team India earlier this year in the five-Test rubber. Stokes' men registered a remarkable come-from-behind victory in Hyderabad but their problems continued to deepen as the series progressed.
Despite being in strong positions on numerous occasions, the tourists failed to capitalize, allowing India to come out on top. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the chief destroyer for India with the bat, amassing 700 runs while the hosts' spinners and pacers performed well alike.
With England languishing at the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table, they will be eyeing a comeback against the West Indies.