England have left out their all-time leading wicket-takers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, for the upcoming Test series against West Indies.
In the wake of head coach Chris Silverwood departing after a dismal Ashes series, England will be led in the Caribbean by captain Joe Root and interim coach Paul Collingwood.
There has been a push to freshen up their red-ball squad for the three-match tussle, starting in Antigua on March 8, and that has meant Anderson and Broad losing their places.
The selection panel, consisting of interim managing director of cricket Andrew Strauss, Collingwood and head scout James Taylor, named a 16-man squad on Tuesday.
As well as Broad and Anderson, six other players who featured in Australia have been left out: Dom Bess, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed, who both endured poor stints Down Under.
Strauss contended this was by no means definitely the end of the road in Tests for Broad, 35, or Anderson, who turns 40 in July. Between them, the pair have taken 1,177 wickets in 321 Tests.
"In respect of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, I want to emphasise this does not mean the end for them as England players," said Strauss, who captained both seamers during his playing career.
"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."
However, Strauss also explained that England are looking to "start a new cycle" after a run of poor results in the longest format.
"We felt that it was time to draw a line after the Ashes defeat, look forward and give some impetus with an influx of new players," he said.
"This selection of this squad is the start of a process and a journey to get England Test cricket back to where it needs to be, and the hard work starts now."
Durham opener Alex Lees and Yorkshire seamer Matthew Fisher have earned maiden call-ups, while Lancashire's Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson will be aiming to make their Test debuts.
Wicketkeeper Ben Foakes has also been included in Buttler's absence, having not featured since playing against India in March 2021.
England squad:
Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Matthew Fisher, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Gillespie defends under-fire Pakistan captain Masood ahead of England Test series
Jason Gillespie insists Shan Masood has a "clear plan" as Pakistan's Test captain.
Pakistan's red-ball skipper has faced scrutiny after overseeing five straight defeats as captain, starting by being whitewashed 3-0 by Australia last December.
That was followed by a shock 2-0 series defeat to Bangladesh last month, which marked Gillespie's first as Pakistan Test coach.
Next up is a three-match series with England, where Joe Root (12,402) is 71 away from surpassing Alastair Cook (12,472) as the all-time leading run scorer for England in men’s Tests, beginning in Multan on Monday.
Speaking on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast, Gillespie said of Masood: "Shan has got a very clear plan on how the Test side should play and we are completely aligned on that," the 49-year-old said.
"There are things people don't see and I've been really impressed by his communication with the players and how he's gone about doing his job."
Gillespie added that he believes part of the issue is improving the fitness of the team.
He added: "We can't afford to have players in international cricket who are not fit or strong enough to negotiate the rigours of the game.
"What I've learned from the Bangladesh series is that we've got some wonderful players, but we need to be more consistent. We've got the skills but we need to keep fine-tuning them.
"There's also been plenty of talks around fitness and we're making sure that it's a key component for us going forward."
Deitz wants Windies Women to capitalize on strong positions ahead of World Cup opener- “We have to be dangerous for longer”
Head Coach of the West Indies Women’s team Shane Deitz is looking for his squad to show more killer instinct ahead of their opening game of the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against South Africa on Friday.
Deitz spoke to CWI Media after the team’s second Warm-up game, a 35-run defeat at the hands of defending World T20 champions, Australia.
During that game, the team had Australia on the ropes with the ball and then with the bat.
At one point during the Australian innings, the West Indies had them reeling at 44-4 and 59-5 before they eventually made 144-8.
With the bat, the regional outfit were 68-1 in the 10th over before eventually being bowled out for 109.
“We had them on the ropes but we didn’t deliver the killer knockout punch. If we’re going to win this World Cup, that’s what we’ve got to do,” Deitz said.
“We have to have the perfect game. 20 overs with the bat. 20 overs with the ball. When we get in those situations and get on top, we’ve got to nail them,” he added.
Even with the losses to India and Australia in preparation for the World Cup, having the defending champions in those positions means that there is a lot of potential within this group.
To consistently defeat the best teams in the world, you have to maintain that high standard of play for as long as possible throughout the game.
Deitz echoed similar sentiments.
“The results aren’t the be all end all in the practice games. What we want is to play good cricket and we are doing that, just not for long enough. Once we get that longer, we have a chance to scare a few teams at this World Cup,” he said.
“Everyone’s in good spirits and we’ve shown that we’re a dangerous team. We just have to be dangerous for longer. The girls are backing themselves and everyone’s looking forward to the start of this World Cup,” he added.
As for the approach he wants his team to have in this tournament, Deitz wants to take the game to the opposition.
“If we’re going to win this, we’ve got to play attacking cricket. We’ve got to back ourselves and take on the opposition. That’s the mindset we’ve got to continue with,” he said.
Solanke earns England recall, Foden, Palmer and Bellingham return
Lee Carsley has recalled Dominic Solanke to the England squad for their upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland.
Solanke's only previous call-up came when he was at Liverpool back in 2017, earning his sole cap as a substitute against Brazil.
Despite missing the start of the season through injury, he has made a fine start to life at Tottenham and has scored in each of his last three matches in all competitions.
"Dom's a player I'm fully aware of having worked with him in the past," said Carsley.
"He was really close to being in the last squad but got injured just before selection. He did so well at Bournemouth, and now he's taken that form into Spurs. He's extremely talented, and it's good that we've got him."
Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham are also back in the squad after missing the September fixtures through illness and injury respectively.
Should Bellingham feature for the Three Lions this international break, he would move outright second for most England appearances before turning 22 (currently 36, level with Marcus Rashford), after Wayne Rooney (40).
Kyle Walker is also back in the fold having been left out of the last squad due to a lack of playing time, and could move into the top five for most England appearances made at Wembley Stadium (37) if he plays against Greece.
Meanwhile, Harry Maguire, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze all drop out.
England squad in full:
Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
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