England have recalled Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed to their Test squad to tour Pakistan next month, and have also called up Durham all-rounder Brydon Carse for the first time.
Ahmed and Leach will join Shoaib Bashir as the three spinners in the squad. Leach hasn't played a Test match since he picked up an injury during England's tour of India earlier this year, following which he underwent surgery. Despite being fit for the majority of the summer, Bashir has been preferred over him as England's first-choice Test spinner. Ahmed also hasn't played a Test since the India series, having made his debut in England's memorable 2022 series win in Pakistan.
Among other headlines from the squad is the call-up of Carse. While Carse has played both white-ball formats for England and is part of their squads for their series against Australia which starts this week, he has never previously been included in a Test squad. He finished serving a three-month ban for betting offences last month, and hit his third first-class century for Durham in his first match back.
England squad for Pakistan Test series: Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
He is one of six pacers England have selected with Chris Woakes, Matt Potts, Olly Stone and Josh Hull retaining their spots from the series against Sri Lanka, with Ben Stokes also an option. Woakes' selection comes after he has not played in an away Test match since 2022. While Woakes' record across England's last two home summers has been exceptional (43 wickets from nine matches at 19.32), his record away from home has been notoriously poor. During the 2023 English summer, Woakes admitted that he would accept never playing another overseas Test series if it meant prolonging his career.
Dan Lawrence is the only player from England's squad against Sri Lanka to be omitted. Lawrence had a torrid time opening the batting during the series, a position he had very limited experience of before the summer. His top score from six innings was 35. Jordan Cox has been retained in his place.
While that leaves England's options to open the batting limited outside of their regular pair, Zak Crawley has been included in the squad after "making significant progress in his recovery" after he fractured his finger attempting to take a catch against the West Indies earlier in the summer. Stokes is also continuing his recovery after he tore his left hamstring during The Hundred.
The venues for the three-match series are yet to be confirmed, with an announcement expected from the Pakistan Cricket Board later this week.
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