Omission from Test squad doesn't mean end of Anderson, Broad as England players: Strauss
Feb 09, 2022
London [UK], February 9 : Sir Andrew Strauss, the interim managing director of England Men's Cricket has said that James Anderson and Stuart Broad might have been dropped but this does not mean the end of them as Three Lions players'.
England Men's selection panel, consisting of Sir Andrew Strauss, interim head coach Paul Collingwood and head scout James Taylor, on Tuesday, named a 16-strong squad for the three-match Test tour of the Caribbean starting next month.
Eight players - James Anderson, Dom Bess, Sam Billings, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Haseeb Hameed, and Dawid Malan - who featured in the recent Ashes series, have missed out on selection.
"In respect of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, I want to emphasize this does not mean the end for them as England players. We feel that it is important to look at some exciting new bowling potential and give some added responsibility to other players who have featured previously. No one doubts the quality and experience that James and Stuart bring to the England set-up. It will be up to the new managing director and permanent head coach to decide on whether they will be involved this summer and beyond," Strauss said in an official release.
Durham opener Alex Lees and Yorkshire seamer Matthew Fisher are called-up for the first time. Lees, 28, captained the Lions squad in Australia and has shown great potential in the LV= Insurance County Championship over the past few years with Durham and previously Yorkshire. He scored 625 runs in last year's Championship campaign, with the highest score of 129.
The 24-year-old Fisher took 20 wickets for Yorkshire last season at an average of 19.65 from County Championship matches. His control with the ball has impressed the England set-up for some time, and he was a stand-out performer for the Lions during the winter programme.
Alongside the new additions to the squad, the Lancashire duo of Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Parkinson will be aiming to make their Test debut in the Caribbean having featured in previous squads.
The three-match Test series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship. Joe Root's team will be looking to climb the rankings after a disappointing start to the second edition of the Championship. At the end of the two-year cycle, the top two teams will compete in the ICC World Test Championship Final due to be staged in 2023.
England squad: Joe Root (C), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Matthew Fischer, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
