England go all-pace as they name side for the 1st Test, with Shoaib Bashir part of the 12-member squad as well.
England pick Bashir in 12-man squad for Perth.
After confirming a 12-man squad that includes both Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir, England has postponed deciding whether to launch an all-pace attack against Australia in the first Ashes Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
On what is anticipated to be the quickest pitch of the series, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum still intend to unleash their fast bowlers loose. After recovering from a tight hamstring he suffered during last week’s warm-up game against the Lions, Wood is considered healthy. Even though he is anticipated to make the final XI, England is delaying their decision to fully commit to their seamers.
During Tuesday’s training session, Wood bowled for forty minutes at the Perth nets. On Wednesday afternoon, he sent down just two overs before participating in light fielding drills on the outfield with physical preparation coach Pete Sim. After that, he and stadium curator Isaac McDonald had a close look at the pitch.
Along with Stokes, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, and Zak Crawley, Wood would be one of five players in the starting lineup with prior Test experience in Australia. During the 2021–2022 tour, the 35-year-old was also the most impressive quick, with 17 wickets at 26.64.
In the final Test of that trip, a day-nighter in Hobart, England also chose to field an XI without a specialist spinner, and they achieved a career-best 6 for 37. After the second Test in Adelaide (also a pink-ball match), when seamer Ollie Robinson resorted to throwing down a few overs of offspin, which was later admitted as a mistake, it was the second time they had done so in that series.
The last time England fielded an XI for a red-ball match in Australia without a specialist spinner was on Boxing Day in 1998. Additionally, they did not field one in their last Test match against India at the Kia Oval in July because Liam Dawson, who was supposed to replace Bashir in the fourth Test, was dropped and Bashir was sidelined due to a finger injury.
The 22-year-old bowled in three of the four innings and returned figures of 2 for 151 from 24 overs during the England vs. Lions match.