Written by Vaibhav Tripathi
Moeen Ali, the spin-bowling all-rounder, has been officially included in the England team to take on Australia in the first Test at Edgbaston. The off-spinner made a comeback from retirement to fill the void left by the injured Jack Leach.
Furthermore, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson have returned to the side, joining forces with Stuart Broad to lead the England pace attack. The duo missed the previous match against Ireland at Lord’s due to niggles. As a result, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts have been omitted from the line-up. Anderson has successfully recovered from his mild groin strain, while Robinson is back in action after overcoming an ankle problem.
However, it’s worth noting that Mark Wood will be absent from the playing XI, leaving England without a genuine pace option. No alterations have been made to the batting department, as they have picked the same line-up that featured in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s.
England’s Playing XI for the Edgbaston Test – Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope (vc), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes ©, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson