England have picked uncapped Dillon Pennington from Nottinghamshire and Jamie Smith from Surrey in a 14-man squad for the first two Tests against the West Indies, scheduled to be played at Lords and Trent Bridge.
A pace bowler, Pennington has claimed 29 wickets for Nottinghamshire averaging 23.03 in Division One of the ongoing County Championship. Meanwhile, Jamie Smith, an explosive keeper-bat, has scored 507 runs in the Championship at an average of 50.70. With Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow left out, Smith is set to make his debut at Lord’s.
Is Dillon Pennington quick, you ask? pic.twitter.com/gtRp3pMyMG
— Vitality County Championship (@CountyChamp) June 30, 2024
Notable absentees from the previous England Test squad that toured India earlier this year include Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood while off-spinner Shoaib Bashir holds onto his spot.
Uncapped seamer Gus Atkinson, who was selected to tour India but didn’t feature in any of the five Tests, retains his place in a revamped bowling attack that welcomes back Chris Woakes, who’ll play his first Test since last year’s Ashes.
Legendary England seamer James Anderson has been selected only for the first Test, where he will play in his 188th and farewell game for England. He has 700 wickets to his credit since making his Test debut in 2003.
