England Announce Their Final 12-Man Squad for Lord’s Test

The management of England has finally revealed the 12-man squad ahead of the Lord’s Test but has not yet announced the final playing XI as they did earlier in the series opener.

Cricket news: Ollie Pope will get his debut Test cap in the match at Lord’s

However they have assured that the 20-year-old Ollie Pope will be debuting for his country and will play at number 4 position.

Pope has been selected in place of Dawid Malan, who performed poorly with the bat and dropped three catches at the slip cordon in the Edgbaston Test.

The hosts are however in a dilemma whether to choose Chris Woakes or to go for an extra spinner in the likes of Moeen Ali.

The searing hot temperatures resulted from a heatwave has left both the teams confused to whether bring in an extra spinner or not. The final decision will be taken prior to the beginning of the match on August 9.

According to the official website of ECB, Jamie Porter will again be missing out of the playing XI as one of Moeen Ali or Chris Woakes will be considered as the final choice.

Ahead of the two days before the match begins, from the look on the pitch, it seems that the pitch will be a green top. But there is also a chance that the before the game begins, the grass might be cut off.

England’s playing XI selection has been in a dilemma because of the absence of Ben Stokes, who is currently busy in attending the court hearing regarding a brawl in Bristol last year.

Moeen Ali might be in contention if the pitch gives a dry look or else Chris Woakes will be selected which will also boost the pace battery of the Brits.

There will be no problem in batting as both the players can play their fair share with the willow. It will all depend on the weather condition and pitch when England skipper Joe Root will announce his squad during the toss.

England 12-man squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (w), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes.