England name first Test squad

Ed Smith marked his major announcement as England national selector by calling up Dom Bess and Jos Buttler.

Recalls for Mark Wood and the continued selection of opener Mark Stoneman suggests early season form hasn't been a major contributing factor in the decision's in naming the squad.

Jos Buttler is back involved in all three formats for England.
Picture credit: SkySports.

James Vince is the only man to have been dropped from the squad that faced New Zealand and Jack Leach is unfortunately ruled out of both Tests with a broken finger. Moeen Ali is also a notable absentee from the squad.

Nick Gubbins was expected to put pressure on Stoneman and Cook at the top of the order after some big early season County Championship runs while James Vince's double-hundred against Somerset hasn't won him his place back yet.

After a winter with the Lions, Bess has recieved his first
full Test call-up.
Picture Credit: Somerset CCC

Buttler's stunning form in the IPL, where he's scored five half-centuries in the past five games, including three scores over 80 has brought him back into the Test side, where he last played in the tour of India in 2016.

Dom Bess has seemingly been the more senior Leach's understudy while at Somerset, but he's gained himself a chance to work his way into the England set-up on the back of 63 first class wickets at 22.49.

The two test series at Lords and Headingley will hopefully bring England back into winning form after a calamitous winter where they failed to win a single test in seven, extending their run to 13 games without an overseas win.

Squad in full:
Joe Root (C), Jonny Bairstow (WK), James Anderson, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alistair Cook, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.