England vs Pakistan: Hosts go with unchanged Test squad for the first test

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday announced the squad for the first test against Pakistan starting from August 5 at the Old Trafford. 

After the success in the Test series against West Indies, England have chosen to go with the unchanged 14-man squad for the Test series against Pakistan. 

The series will have three matches and the side will be led by Joe Root while Ben Stokes will be his deputy. 

England had a few major takeaways from the West Indies series especially bowler Stuart Broad who finished with 16 wickets and also completed 500 wickets in the longest format of the game. 

England vs West Indies third test

Apart from going with the same squad, the ECB has also named four reserves James Bracey, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach and Dan Lawrence for the Manchester test.

“After three Tests in quick succession against West Indies, we now turn to an equally condensed Test series against Pakistan, with 15 days of Test cricket scheduled in a three-week period” National selector Ed Smith said. 

The entire team was in the bubble after the win but the board has allowed the players to visit their families with the condition to return by Sunday and get the tests done ahead of the first test match. 

Squad for 1st Test: Joe Root, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (Wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood