England name 17-man squad for the Ashes, Ben Stokes not included

England and Wales Cricket Board have named a potent 17-man squad for the Ashes, which has been given a green signal earlier in the week by the English board. As expected Ben Stokes is not included in the squad as the talisman all-rounder continues his indefinite break from the game due to mental well-being.

Furthermore, Jofra Archer has also not found a place in the squad as the gun fast bowler is yet to fully recover from his injury. Joe Root will lead his men in Australia as they will look to reclaim the Ashes after a long gap of 11 years.

Stuart Broad, who was ruled out of the Test series against India due to calf injury after the first Test, has been included in the squad subject to proving his match fitness before departure.

England squad for the Ashes: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Out of the 17 players, 10 will travel to Australia for their first-ever Ashes tour. Thus, the majority of the visitors’ squad will be wet behind the ears. England will also miss the variety in their pace attack as Sam Curran has been ruled out due to a lower back injury.

Ollie Robinson and Craig Overton have been included along with Broad, Wood, James Anderson, and Chris Woakes.

“A tour of Australia is the pinnacle as an England Test cricketer,” Silverwood said. “I am delighted that all of our available players have committed to the tour. We are looking forward to touring and enjoying the experience of this historic series.

“This is why we play and coach to be involved in iconic series like this. More than half of our squad haven’t featured in an Ashes tour before, which means we will be fresh and looking to embrace the cricket and the excitement of touring one of the best places in the world.

The first Ashes Test will be played at the Gabba from December 8.