‌Lawrence dropped and Leach returns as England announce squad for Pakistan tour

A day after their 2-1 triumph against Sri Lanka, the ECB announced major amendments to their Test squad set to tour the Asian territory of Pakistan. Ben Stokes, who was injured during a Northern Superchargers’ game in the Men’s Hundred 2024, returns to lead the English team after missing out on the three games against the Lions. 

As anticipated, Dan Lawrence has been dropped from the squad after scoring just 120 runs in six innings. He looked shaky in his approach and failed to fill the injured Zak Crawley’s void, albeit he was batting out of position. As per an ESPNcricinfo report, Jordan Cox is in line to debut and take the opening spot after impressing in the domestic circuit for Essex.  

Going by the trend of three spinners in the subcontinent, ECB included Leach and Rehan along with Shoaib Bashir, the primary English spinner at home. Leach was ruled out of the India series after sustaining an injury in the Hyderabad Test. However, he made a strong comeback in the English summer for Somerset, headlined by a 12-fer in his latest County Championship game against Durham. Additionally, Rehan has been included in the squad, on the back of his strong outing in Pakistan in 2022, helping in a 3-0 whitewash.

In another notable inclusion, Brydon Carson has been summoned in the line-up after being suspended due to betting in 303 games, including that of Durham's in which he wasn’t a part. This means England have opted to select three pacers - Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, and Carse - who could clock 90 mph in Mark Wood’s absence.

England are scheduled to face Pakistan for three Tests in Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi before the action switches to New Zealand for three Tests, all a part of the World Test Championship.

England Test squad to tour Pakistan: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Matthew Potts, Chris Woakes