England Ashes squad 2021: which players have been included for Australia cricket series tour this winter

After finally confirming that the Ashes series 2021/2022 would be going ahead, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the 17-man squad set to be heading to Australia.

Here is all you need to know about the upcoming England squad.

Who are the batters named in Ashes squad 2021/2022

England captain Joe Root will lead the charge in Australia. The right-handed batter has had an exceptionally successful 2021 so far scoring a total of 1398 runs from 11 matches. He has yet to score a century in Australia and will be expected to if his team has any chance of winning a test.

Opening the batting will be fought between Rory Burns, Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed. Both Burns and Hameed have had a mixture of success this summer but Burns will boast the experience of competing against the Australian Squad in 2019.

Hameed is yet to receive a central contract with England and will look to prove his worth on this tour while Crawley will desperately hope to improve his current 2021 average of 11.4.

Dan Lawrence and Dawid Malan will also travel out to Australia. Malan’s only Test century to date was made on the last Ashes tour and he has had a decent return to the test squad this summer.

Lawrence had an excellent Lions tour in Australia in 2019 scoring a total of 498 runs at 98.6 but has still much to prove in this current England squad.

Who will keep wicket in Ashes series 2021/2022?

Jonathan Bairstow, Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler have all been named in the squad. Despite it being his first Ashes tour to Australia, it is likely that Buttler will have the firm spot as wicket-keeper batter with Bairstow and Pope fighting out for the additional batting spot.

Bairstow made a century in Perth on the last Ashes tour but has been in and out of form all summer.

England will look to Pope to be the next generation of batters to break through.

Who are the bowlers named in Ashes squad 2021/2022?

Veteran bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad will lead the bowling unit. Anderson is currently England’s leading-wicket taker in 2021. He is third on the list of all time highest wicket-takers and the only fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets. Anderson’s skill and experience will be vital in getting the wicket of Australian batsman Steve Smith.

Broad is still recovering from an injured calf but with Ollie Robinson in the mix, there will be less pressure placed on the Nottinghamshire-bowler. England fans will hope for a return of the Broad - David Warner battle after Broad took the wicket of Warner seven times in the 2019 series.

Fellow fast bowlers Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson have also been named in the squad.

Due to the absence of Jofra Archer and Olly Stone, Root will rely on Wood to be the only option for pace.

Woakes recently pulled out of the remaining IPL matches in order to focus on the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. His recent return to the test squad saw him take four wickets in his first test, only needing one over before the first wicket came.

Robinson made his Test Debut in June 2021 against New Zealand and has already taken 28 wickets. He has plenty of experience on Australian pitches from Lions tours and grade cricket.

The spin bowling pair of Jack Leach and Dom Bess make up the final two members of the 17-man squad.

Despite not playing all summer, Leach is England’s second highest wicket-taker of the year, taking 18 wickets in the winter tests against India. Root still feels he has much to prove and may lose out on the number one spinner spot to Bess’s additional batting skills.

Bess had a difficult winter in Asia earlier in the year but has since found much more success playing with Yorkshire this summer.

Who is set to miss the Ashes 2021/2022

England all-rounder and 2019 Ashes hero Ben Stokes has been left out of the initial squad after taking an indefinite break from cricket citing mental health reasons and injuring his left index finger.

England head coach Chris Silverwood has stated that there will be a spot open for Stokes in the upcoming series if he chooses to take it.

England fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Sam Curran have also been left out of the 17-man squad due to injuries. Archer has been out for most of the summer in recovery for a stress fracture in his right elbow while Sam Curran recently sustained a stress fracture in his lower back while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the 2021 Indian Premier League.

Consequently both players are also out of this year’s upcoming T20 World Cup, which starts on 18th October.

When is the first Ashes test?

The first Ashes test is set to be played from 8 December 2021 to 12 December 2021 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

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