England favoured Stuart Broad’s experience over Mark Wood’s raw pace for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston after naming its team two days early in a show of confidence.
With James Anderson and Ollie Robinson healthy enough to return to the team after resting injury niggles in the recent one-off test against Ireland at Lord’s, there was just one spot left in the seam attack for the series opener against Australia on Friday.
Wood, England’s quickest bowler, was edged out by Broad, who led the attack impressively against the Irish and whose record of 162 caps and 582 wickets is bettered only by Anderson.
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Broad’s selection guarantees another chapter in his rivalry with Australia opener David Warner, who was dismissed by Broad seven times in 10 innings in the 2019 Ashes.
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Moeen Ali will slot straight in at No.8 and as the spin option after coming out of retirement following an injury to Jack Leach.
Opener Ben Duckett and No.5 Harry Brook are the only players in the England team to be making their Ashes debuts in Birmingham, while Broad and Anderson have both taken the field 35 times against Australia.
The Aussies will either reveal their XI when Pat Cummins speaks to media on Thursday, or at the toss before the match starts on Friday evening.
England team: 1. Ben Duckett 2. Zak Crawley 3. Ollie Pope 4. Joe Root 5. Harry Brook 6. Ben Stokes (c) 7. Jonathan Bairstow (wk) 8. Moeen Ali 9. Stuart Broad 10. Ollie Robinson 11. James Anderson
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