LONDON: Brydon Carse may make his debut a few weeks after serving a ban for breaking betting regulations, and Ben Stokes will captain England again for their three-Test tour of Pakistan starting next month.
After missing the 2-1 home series victory against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury, Stokes will lead the team. After missing the same series due to a fractured finger, opener Zak Crawley is also included in the roster that was revealed on Tuesday.
Bowling all-rounder Carse, who made his comeback to play in late August following a three-month ban for past betting infractions, seems to be the primary gainer from Durham team-mate and fellow fast Mark Wood’s season-ending elbow injury.
The 29-year-old South African-born player, who has played in 17 white-ball internationals for England, is included in a team of 17 players, along with Jordan Cox, who has not yet made his Test debut.
Dan Lawrence, who started the match against Sri Lanka as a stand-in for Crawley, has been benched.
Young left-arm fast bowler Josh Hull has been kept in the team, but two spinners who were part of England’s historic 3-0 series victory over Pakistan in 2022, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed, have been recalled.
Leach lost his position as England’s top spinner this season to Shoaib Bashir, but Stokes has three excellent slow bowling options in Ahmed of Leicestershire, the Somerset combination, and Leach.
The tour is expected to begin in Multan on October 7. Additional Test matches are scheduled in Karachi and Rawalpindi, however those locations are having issues because of improvements done in preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2019.
Sri Lanka or the United Arab Emirates might host one or more of the games.
Nevertheless, despite various challenges, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) thinks there is potential for the series to be played in the nation, as previously reported by Dawn.
The matches are slated to take place in Rawalpindi (October 24-28), Karachi (October 15–19), and Multan (October 7–11). However, a change to the series schedule is about to happen as Karachi has been ruled out as one of the host cities due to continuing development to get the city’s National Bank Stadium ready for the Champions Trophy.
According to Dawn, the PCB considered moving the Karachi meeting to Rawalpindi; however, the plan was shelved when the board discovered that a high-profile meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization would take place in Islamabad at the same time.
In order to provide the garrison city the chance to host two games, the PCB may decide to move the first Test from Multan to Rawalpindi before going back to the former city for the second match. The final match will then be held in Rawalpindi.
England will be trying to take advantage of Pakistan’s dire cricket situation, as the national team just won a two-match series against Bangladesh to record their first-ever Test whitewash.
Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, and Brydon Carse make up the England team.
