ECB announces England's 14-player squad for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan

England national selectors have named a 14-player squad for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan. Notably, England has decided to stick with the same 14-man squad who participated in the West Indies series. Having won the three-match Test series against Caribbeans by 2-1, England would like to try the same winning combination again instead of making new experiments.

The English cricket team would be up against Pakistan for a three-match Test series with the first match in Manchester on August 5 followed by the second and final match on August 13 and August 21 respectively in Southampton. England players have left for their homes after living in a biosecure bubble for over a month now and will be assembling at Old Trafford on August 2 (Sunday).

“After three Tests in quick succession against the West Indies, we now turn to an equally condensed Test series against Pakistan, with 15 days of Test cricket scheduled in a three-week period,” National Selector Ed Smith said in a statement.

“Our 14-man squad is unchanged. We want to have sufficient reserves inside the biosecure Test match ‘bubble’, but we may also want to give opportunities, where possible, for the reserves to play county cricket. As we seek the best balance here, England may make changes to the reserves during the three-match series against Pakistan,” he added.

England to again face the pace attack dilemma against Pakistan

With an unchanged 14-member squad against the Pakistan side, English team management, and captain Joe Root to again face the dilemma of picking their pacers for the playing XI. England had rotated their frontline fast bowlers in the Test series against West Indies.

However this time it would be more difficult for the coach and captain to make a choice as every pacer has proved his merit when given a chance. Stuart Broad had taken 16 scalps at an economy of 10.93 in the last two Test matches against the WI side.

Chris Woakes also ended the series by taking five wickets in the second innings. While James Anderson is England’s leading wicket-taker, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood have contributed significantly to their team’s victory. Sam Curran has the record of winning every match he has played at home.

England’s 14-man squad for Pakistan series

Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.