England have named Shoaib Bashir in their 12-man squad for the first Test of the home summer against New Zealand at Lord's, with Rehan Ahmed left out of the group.
Having selected both the all-rounder and the specialist in their squad, England put to bed the question over which spinner would start the series as their incumbent. Also missing out from the initial squad of 15 they named three weeks ago are Matthew Fisher and James Rew, while Jacob Bethell is in the final group following the injury he picked up in the IPL.
England XII first Test vs New Zealand: Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue
Bashir hasn't played a Test since last summer, when he picked up a series-ending finger injury in the Lord's Test against India. Despite being picked in England's Ashes squad over the winter, he didn't play a game, with Will Jacks entrusted as the lead spinner in the side instead. However, following his county move to Derbyshire at the start of the season, Bashir has enjoyed a decent start to the season. He's picked up 15 wickets from six matches as a regular in the XI.
The inclusion of Bashir comes at the expense of Rehan, who was poised to make his home Test debut. Rehan played two Championship matches this April before he flew to India as an injury replacement for Ben Duckett for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL. He didn't play a match, but played in England Lions' second match against South Africa A last week, where he scored 48 runs across both innings and took 1-34.
The other standout from England's squad is Ollie Robinson, who will likely play his first Test match for two years. The Sussex pacer was dropped from the side following their series in India in 2024. Concerns over his fitness led to a prolonged absence from England squads, but having performed well in the county game over the last two seasons, including scoring a stand-out century from No.10 at The Oval last month, the door has been opened for Robinson to come back in.
Also part of the group is Sonny Baker, who is set to make his Test debut at Lord's. Neither Mark Wood nor Jofra Archer were included in the initial squad of 15, with the latter needing to increase his workload following the IPL, and the fitness of the former under scanner. Baker would provide an express pace dimension to the attack, having made an impact for Hampshire in the first block of Championship matches.
With Bashir the only spinner in the group, England will likely leave one of Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Baker, or Robinson out of the final XI. Emilio Gay is the only confirmed debutant, set to open the batting with Ben Duckett as Zak Crawley's replacement.
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