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Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and pacer Gus Atkinson are set to make their Test debuts as England named their playing eleven for the first Test against West Indies at the iconic Lord's venue from July 10.
The match will also be the final international appearance for the 42-year-old pace veteran James Anderson, who will bring down curtains on his 22-year-old international career. With 700 wickets in 187 Test matches, Anderson currently stands third among the highest wicket-takers in the longest format and is the first among all fast bowlers. Atkinson, who has made 12 appearances for England across both white-ball formats, was unused during the five-Test series tour of India earlier this year, but is being looked as a long-term pace option. A fine 2023 summer saw him getting selected for the ICC Cricket World Cup in India last year, though he missed out on the berth in the ICC T20 World Cup squad for this year. In the ongoing County Championship, he has taken 14 wickets at an average of 29.78 for Surrey, the division one table-toppers, as per ESPNCricinfo. Smith will be taking the wicketkeeping gloves, as England moved on from Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes for this series. The 23-year-old has been in fine form across all formats and earned his call-up thanks to his second first-class century of this season. He is currently Surrey's top run-getter in the County Championship, with 677 runs in nine matches at an average of 56.41 and a strike rate of 76.67, with two centuries and five fifties. His best score is 155 this season. Somerset spinner Shoaib Bashir will play his first Test match in England after debuting in India earlier this year. Warwickshire seamer Chris Woakes returns to XI for the first time since last summer's Ashes series against Australia. While England is going with a trusted top four of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Joe Root, Harry Brook returns to Test cricket after missing out on a tour to India this year due to the death of his grandmother and will boost the England's middle order along with skipper Ben Stokes. England will play three-match Test series against West Indies. England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt) 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Shoaib Bashir, 11 James Anderson. (ANI)
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