England announce Ashes squad; Brook appointed Stokes' deputy, Mark Wood returns

London [UK], September 23 (ANI): Ben Stokes will be leading a 16-man strong squad for the 2025-26 Ashes tour of Australia, with young Harry Brook as vice-captain, reported England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday.

A statement from the ECB said, “The England Men’s selection panel has named a 16-strong squad for the 2025/26 Ashes tour of Australia. Harry Brook has been confirmed as England’s vice-captain for the Ashes tour, replacing Ollie Pope.”

Also, express pacer Mark Wood, who last played a Test in August 2024, returns to the squad following his recovery from a knee injury. Spinner Shoaib Bashir is available again after recovering from the finger injury sustained during the home series against India.

Durham seamer Matthew Potts and Surrey batting all-rounder Will Jacks are both included. Potts last featured in December 2024 against New Zealand, while Jacks won his most recent Test cap in December 2022 against Pakistan. Jacks will miss the white-ball tour of New Zealand with a broken finger but is expected to be fit for the Ashes.

Test Captain Ben Stokes continues his recovery from the shoulder injury that ruled him out of the final Test against India at The Oval and remains on track to be available for the Ashes series starting from November 21.

The Ashes series in Australia will be an extremely crucial one for England. For England, this will be their chance to win the first away Ashes series since 2011 and their first overall since 2015. It would be the ultimate test of their ‘Bazball’ school of cricket under skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum in tough, pacey and bouncy Aussie conditions.

England squad for The Ashes series against Australia: Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood. (ANI)

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