The playing XI for England’s one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s on June 1 has been announced. Josh Tongue, the Worcestershire seamer, is set to make his Test debut in the four-day red-ball contest. However, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, will not be able to play in this Test due to injuries, but they are anticipated to recover in time for the first Ashes Test.
As a result of Anderson and Robinson’s absence, Tongue, who has an impressive record of 162 first-class wickets from 47 matches, has been given the opportunity to fill in. The 25-year-old will join the likes of Stuart Broad and Matthew Potts in England’s seam attack.
It is worth mentioning that Tongue has been in excellent form this season, taking 11 wickets in four County Championship matches. Among his notable achievements was dismissing the genius Australian batter Steve Smith during Worcestershire’s match against Sussex.
Jonny Bairstow, who has recovered from his injury, will be making his return to Test cricket after last playing in August. During the previous summer, the wicketkeeper-batter had an impressive performance for England, smashing four centuries in six Tests.
Bairstow accumulated a total of 681 runs at an average of 75.66, with a strike rate of 96.59. But he unfortunately suffered a leg injury while playing golf in September. Harry Brook, who replaced Bairstow during his absence, had a strong start to his Test career as well, scoring four centuries in six matches. Brook, who grabbed headlines recently with his IPL stint for Sunrisers Hyderabad, has retained his spot in the team and will be batting at No. 5.
England’s playing XI for the one-off Test vs Ireland: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Jack Leach.
