England name XI for Lord's Test against Ireland; Josh Tongue to debut, Chris Woakes left out

England have left out all-rounder Chris Woakes from the XI for the Lord’s Test against Ireland, starting June 1. Worcestershire pacer Josh Tongue, meanwhile, is set to make his debut after being roped into the squad last week as cover for veteran James Anderson and Ollie Robinson - who both will miss the one-off affair with groin and ankle injuries, respectively. 

Tongue, 25, impressed in the second unofficial Test with England Lions against Sri Lanka A in February with returns of 5 for 34 and 3 for 77. The right-armer, who has 162 First-Class wickets in 82 innings, will cap off some turnaround, making a debut at the iconic Lord’s only a year after he was mulling retiring following a 15-month shoulder-injury-enforced hiatus from the game. 

"It's an amazing feeling. [I'm] speechless, really. Even from when I got the first call-up to be in the squad... now being in the actual team, it's just a dream come true really. Baz [Coach Brendon McCullum] came up to me just before training finished today. I had just finished a gym session, actually, and he came up to me and gave me the good news,” Tongue said following the announcement of the team.

Coach McCullum labelled the pacer a “rough diamond” and England might as well want to polish him to bolster their severely depleted pace stocks with Jofra Archer, Olly Stone, Jamie Overton and Brydon Carse nursing injuries and out of action for the foreseeable future.

"He's a big strong lad, that's for sure," McCullum said. "He looks like he bowls quite fast and has some real skills. He is obviously a bit of a rough diamond. He's had some injuries throughout his career and it is nice for a guy like him to be able to have an extended period of time where he has been injury-free this summer to push his case.

"We think he has got something really exciting and hence we brought him into the squad. Whether he plays in this Test or throughout the summer, I am not sure, but again he is another one who looks like he has an immense amount of talent.”

England XI vs Ireland: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Jack Leach