England men’s Test team are currently struggling early on in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. With plenty of County Championship action going on around the country, here’s a look at how those on the peripheries of England selection have been getting on.

Ben Foakes

Despite Jonny Bairstow demonstrating another string to his bow by carting a protestor off the field of play this morning, it probably isn’t enough to put the keeper selection issue to bed just yet. Foakes, however, had a difficult week at the Kia Oval along with the rest of the Surrey team, as they went down to a 123-run defeat to Lancashire. Foakes scored 23 in the first innings and five in the second as Surrey were bowled out for 84 on day four.

Sam Curran

Curran enjoyed an excellent start to his first-class return, dismissing Luke Wells in his second over of the match. However, that was his only wicket in the first innings before he picked up Keaton Jennings and Tom Bailey in the second. With the bat, he made a half-century in the first innings but was unable to prevent Surrey’s collapse in the second. He was bowled by Will Williams for seven.

Will Jacks

England called Rehan Ahmed to the Ashes squad as cover for Moeen Ali for the second Test. While neither ended up selected in the starting XI, it demonstrated Jacks’ position in the spin standings. He bowled seven wicketless overs for Surrey against Lancashire, but scored 64 off 77 in his first dig before he was out for 20 in his second.

Keaton Jennings

Jennings last played a Test match for England in 2019, but travelled with the squad to Pakistan last winter. He was Division One’s leading run scorer last season and, while injury means he has only played four matches this season, he currently averages 69.83 in this year’s competition. He scored 25 & 16 at the Kia Oval this week, coming off the back of 189* against Somerset in his previous appearance in April.

Phil Salt

Since joining Lancashire in 2022, Phil Salt had played no first-class cricket for the county until last week, when he made his fifth first-class century against Hampshire. He followed up this week with a pair of half-centuries against Surrey. Both of them came at a strike-rate above fifty.

Liam Dawson

Liam Dawson was the other England spinner overlooked in favour of 18-year-old Ahmed. Having claimed his career-best first-class figures against Northamptonshire back in May, the left-arm spinner put in an all-round blitz of a performance against Middlesex this week. He took 12 wickets and scored 141 in Hampshire’s only innings, becoming the first Hampshire player to take ten wickets and score a century in a match since 1901.

Sam Billings

Billings stepped down as Kent’s red ball captain this week, handing over the responsibility to Jack Leaning. So far in this year’s County Championship, he has scored 92 runs in ten innings with a high score of 31. He didn’t play in Kent’s clash against Northamptonshire this week, which they won by an innings and 15 runs.

Alex Lees

After opening the batting in Tests for England for the entirety of last summer, Lees was dropped for the winter. Since then, Lees has been at the forefront of Durham’s ‘Bazball-style’ Championship rampage. They have won four out of their seven games, only having lost one, and sit comfortably at the top of the Division Two table. Lees has scored 699 runs this season and averages 53.76. The most impressive aspect of that, however, is his strike rate, which is 70.60 and only second to teammate Ollie Robinson in the top-five run scorers in the Division. This week, Lees scored twin centuries against Leicestershire, making 101 off 151 balls in the first innings and 145 from 190 in the second.

Matthew Potts

Matthew Potts featured consistently for England in Test last summer, and took three wickets against Ireland in the first Test of the 2023 summer. While he was included in England’s 16-man Ashes squad, he has subsequently been released to play for Durham in the County Championship. He took four wickets at Grace Road this week, as Durham came agonizingly close to beating Leicestershire before bad light stopped play with two wickets still needed.

Matt Parkinson

Kent announced this week that Matt Parkinson would be joining them on a three-year deal at the end of the season. His opportunities to play Championship cricket for Lancashire this season have been sparse, despite his five-for in the opening match of the season. Having joined Durham on loan earlier in the season, it was also announced this week that he would return to the county on loan until at least the end of July. He took five wickets against Leicestershire for Durham this week, but couldn’t bowl them to victory on the last day.

Dan Lawrence

Part of England’s Ashes squad, Dan Lawrence was pulled out of Essex’s engagement after one day, but that was still enough time for him to carve a century. If Pope’s injury is a serious one, Lawrence is in pole position for a promotion.

Matt Fisher

Matt Fisher was fairly anonymous in Yorkshire’s draw with Gloucestershire this week. He took 0-63 in the only innings Gloucestershire batted.

Dawid Malan

Dawid Malan scored a century in Yorkshire’s fixture in the last round of competition against Derbyshire. However, he scored 28 & 20 on a pitch that three of his teammates scored hundreds on in the first innings. He has scored two hundreds this year and averages 37.50 in Division Two.

You can bet on the 2023 Ashes with our Match Centre partners, bet365.