Ashes 2023: England announces squad for first two Tests; Anderson, Woakes, Wood in

England announced its Test squad for the first two matches of the Ashes against Australia on Saturday.

James Anderson has been named in the Test squad for the first two Ashes matches against Australia. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

England has named an unchanged squad for the first two Tests of the five-match Ashes series against Australia, with seamer Josh Tongue retaining his place after an impressive debut against Ireland this week.

Tongue was initially drafted into the squad after injury concerns over James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who were rested for the Ireland test but are expected to be fit to face Australia when the first Test begins at Edgbaston on June 16.

Worcestershire seamer Tongue took three wickets on day two as England closed on a comprehensive victory over Ireland at Lord’s in its only warm-up Test before the Ashes.

England does have concerns about the fitness of its captain Ben Stokes who has a longstanding knee problem and was in obvious pain after taking a catch to dismiss Ireland’s Curtis Campher on Saturday.

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

Men’s Ashes 2023 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, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester 5th Test: England v Australia, 27-31 Kia Oval, London