Overton recalled, recuperating Archer left out as England unveil 14-man squad for first Test against India

Jamie Overton earned a surprise red-ball recall as England unveiled their 14-man squad for the first match of the five-Test series against India that takes place at Headingley, Leeds starting 20 June. Overton, who made his only Test appearance against New Zealand in the summer of 2022, has been included after a hamstring injury to Gus Atkinson.

Also included in the pace department are Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, who had missed the one-off Test against Zimbabwe last month due to niggles. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) selectors have also brought bowling all-rounder Jacob Bethell back into the Test side, creating a top-order headache of sorts for captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.

Jofra Archer wasn’t named in the England squad with the senior pacer currently recovering from a thumb injury that he had suffered in the Indian Premier League. The 30-year-old isn’t expected to be match-fit until the second Test – which gets underway at Edgbaston, Birmingham on 2 July. Also missing from the squad are Mark Wood and Olly Stone, who have been ruled out of the series with knee injuries.

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Overton’s a real threat, says England selector

Overton had reportedly beaten Matthew Potts to the Test squad despite making just three appearances in the County Championship since the start of the last season.

“We’ve spoken many times about our varied attack, and making sure that we’ve still got some pace in the attack. Jamie showed in white-ball cricket that he’s got a huge amount of pace and bounce, and he’s a real threat,” England selector Luke Wright was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.

“He’s obviously had a taste of Test cricket before, and did well, getting some runs, which was great. He’s going back to a ground he did well at Leeds, and for us, it’s making sure that we’ve got the options. If one of those quicker bowlers were to go down, then we’ve got someone who could replace him, and Jamie is a great one to have available,” he added.

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Wright added that Archer will be playing a County game for Sussex against Durham a fortnight from now in order to prove his fitness and play the second Test against India, which takes place at Edgbaston from 2 to 6 July.

This will be the second time India and England play a five-match Test series in as many years, with the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team having won the series 4-1 in their backyard last year after losing the series opener in Hyderabad.

The upcoming series, however, will feature several new faces with Rohit and fellow superstar Virat Kohli having retired from Test cricket in the span of a week last month and spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin having abruptly retired from international cricket midway during the Test series in Australia. Shubman Gill had been confirmed as India's new Test captain during India’s squad announcement on 24 May with Rishabh Pant as his deputy.

Among the Englishmen who had toured India last year, James Anderson had retired from international cricket later that summer, making his final Test appearance against West Indies at Lord’s. Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson are the other cricketers who have lost their place in the Test side since then.

England squad for the first Test against India: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.