The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have unveiled their squad for the upcoming third Test of the Ashes 2023 series against Australia, following a closely-fight loss in the second game. The third Test is scheduled to be held at Headingley, starting from July 6 onwards. The squad remains largely unchanged from the previous two Tests, with the exclusion of Rehan Ahmed and Matthew Potts.
Rehan, who was initially included as cover for Moeen Ali in the second Test, has been dropped from the 15-member unit. This suggests that Moeen is likely to participate in the upcoming contest. Despite the defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, key players such as James Anderson and Ollie Pope have retained their places in the squad for the crucial encounter.
Though Pope, who suffered a shoulder injury, is set to undergo scans on his right shoulder on Monday.
Notably, England are scheduled to travel to Leeds on Monday, and more information regarding Pope’s availability for the third Test will be known after the scan results are obtained.
In the second Test, Australia secured a thrilling victory over England at Lord’s, extending their lead in the series. Overcoming a remarkable century by England captain Ben Stokes, Australia won the match by 43 runs.
The home team got a challenging target of 371 runs and found themselves reeling at 193/6, still needing 178 runs for victory. However, Stokes played an extraordinary knock, scoring 155 runs off 214 deliveries, bringing England agonizingly close to the target. Unfortunately, after his dismissal, England’s hopes were over. Despite the efforts of Josh Tongue and James Anderson in the end, Australia managed to dismiss England for 327, sealing the victory.
England squad for 3rd Ashes Test:
Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
