The England cricket team has stated that they will be revealing their squad for the upcoming Ashes scheduled to be held in November at the Oval on Wednesday. The announcement will be made at 10 am ahead of the 4th One Day International against the Windies. England is currently the holders of Ashes after a 3-2 series victory against Australia in 2015.
Meanwhile, it must be kept in mind that the English side was handsomely whitewashed 5-0 on their previous Australian tour. They have been whitewashed on 2 out of the last three occasions, and the visitors will be hoping for a turn-around in their fortunes. Despite series victories over South Africa and Windies very recently, the doubts surrounding the top order has been a headache for Joe Root and Co as barring Root and Alistair Cook no players appear a certainty to be in the top 5 of the opening Test in Brisbane starting on November 23.
England selectors are looking for replacements and considering late-season1 performances before picking the squad. The announcement will come on Day 2 of this summer’s final round of Specsavers County Championship matches.
There are some injury worries in the team as well with seamer Toby Roland Jones who had a successful start to his career but has recently undergone scans on his back. Opener Haseeb Hameed who made an impressive debut in India last suffered a fractured finger during a County Championship match against Middlesex.
Meanwhile former English skipper and the current Director of ECB, Andrew Strauss said that despite winning series against South Africa and Windies, England is still not sure about the top and middle order.
“There are two or three places up for grabs, which is never ideal and our consistency hasn’t been what we want,” Strauss said. “The two are probably pretty closely linked really, aren’t they? There are going to be opportunities for guys to make a very strong case for a long-term England career based on performing well when it really counts in Australia, but I’d be lying if I said we were going with absolute clarity on what our best XI is. We’re just not in that position at the moment.
“I would resist any narrative that says we have been chopping and changing. Most of these guys had a good length in the team and would hold their hand up and say it wasn’t a bad decision to remove them for a bit. I think the reality is that the secret to a long England career is not how good you are, it is how consistent you are, and those guys have not been consistent enough,” the former captain was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.