England have announced their squad for the first two Tests of the men’s 2023 Ashes, with the 16-strong group unchanged from that picked to face Ireland at Lord’s.

Josh Tongue, who impressed on Test debut at HQ, was retained, while there was no space once again for Ben Foakes, left out for the returning Jonny Bairstow against Ireland.

Tongue faces a battle to retain his place, with James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood all set to come back into the selection frame.

“It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad,” Rob Key, managing director of England Men’s cricket said when the Ireland squad was announced. “He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about.”

Tongue was a late addition to the squad to face Ireland, but won selection for the XI at the expense of Chris Woakes, with Anderson, Robinson and Wood all unavailable. While he went wicketless in the first innings, he impressed with his pace and bounce, topping 90mph on occasion. Tongue found reward in the second innings, claiming the first three wickets to fall before adding a fourth on the third morning.

The first Test takes place at Edgbaston, starting on June 16, while the second will see England return to Lord’s on June 28.

Update: Jack Leach has been ruled out of the Ashes with a low back (lumbar) stress fracture.

England squad for the 2023 Ashes: Full team list

Batters

Joe Root, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence.

Wicketkeepers

Ollie Pope (vc), Jonny Bairstow.

All-rounders

Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

Bowlers

James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Josh Tongue.

Jack Leach was initially added to the squad, but ruled out later.

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