Former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne would like to see the uncapped Zak Crawley named in England’s squad for the first Ashes Test, which will get under way at Edgbaston in Birmingham on 1 August.
Crawley has relished a solid stretch of form for Kent in the 2019 County Championship Division One. The 21-year-old right-hander’s talent was particularly evident during mid-June’s century against Nottinghamshire at Tunbridge Wells.
Warne’s preferred 12-man England squad, meanwhile, did not feature all-rounder Sam Curran, seamer Chris Woakes, leg-spinner Adil Rashid or opening batsman Rory Burns.
Here’s my England 12 for the first #ashes test
Roy
Z Crawley
Bairstow
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Foakes wk
Ali
Archer
Broad
Anderson
WoodIf another batsman was scoring big runs I would select them & have Joss keep. But, Foakes is a good option. 12th man decided on conditions
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) July 22, 2019
Warne, too, vouched for fast bowler James Pattinson to be named in Australia’s squad for the series opener. Pattinson has not played international cricket for three years, but starred for Australia A against Sussex in Arundel earlier this month.
And here’s my Aussie Ashes team/squad for the 1st test.
Warner
Harris
Khawaja
Smith
Head
Wade
Paine
Pattinson
Cummins
Lyon
Starc / HazlewoodPlus in Squad. A Carey, J Richardson, C Bancroft, M Marsh & W Pucovski
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) July 22, 2019
Australia have named a 25-man Ashes squad, which includes the South African-born Marnus Labuschagne. All-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis were overlooked, while limited-overs wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey has been included on the back of an impressive World Cup campaign. The 25 will eventually be trimmed to a final 16.
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