New England captain Ben Stokes said he wanted everyone on the side to “feel free” under his leadership when James Anderson and Stuart Broad were recalled for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s starting Thursday. Stokes has taken the helm from Joe Root, with England on a woeful run of one win in 17 Tests. But the all-rounder told Lord’s reporters on Wednesday: “There’s been a lot of talk about a ‘reset’, a word I don’t like.” I just see it as a completely blank canvas. I just want everyone to feel free under my captaincy.
“This is our time and we are going to dictate how things go on. Everyone starts fresh.”
Anderson, 39, and Broad, 35, England’s two most successful bowlers of all time, with a combined 1,177 wickets between them, were both controversially left out of the squad for a 1-0 series loss in the West Indies earlier this year.
But they return for the first game under England’s new leadership duo, Stokes and former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, in a squad to be named Wednesday – a day ahead of schedule.
England have also made a debut for fast bowler Matthew Potts, a county colleague of Stokes in Durham.
Potts gets his chance ahead of fellow squadmate Craig Overton, after an injury crisis robbed England of several fast bowlers, including Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer.
The 23-year-old has been selected after a solid start to the county season, having taken 35 wickets for Durham in his first six County Championship appearances.
“He’s been excellent in the games I’ve played,” said Stokes of Potts.
“It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for bowlers and he has created things out of thin air.
“What struck me about Pottsy was when he threw us to victory against Glamorgan.
“He showed up with a bit of a stiff side, with the test roster coming up he could have just sat back and said ‘I’m going to take care of myself’ but he didn’t. He ran in and won the game for U.S.
“That’s the attitude that opens your eyes. This kid is an athlete and everything I expect from this team is moving forward.”
England had previously allayed some of the doubts surrounding their side for this opening game of a three-test series by indicating that Jonny Bairstow would bat at number five, with Ollie Pope penciling the first wicket down.
That means in-form Harry Brook, a Yorkshire colleague from Bairstow, will have to wait for his Test debut.
Brook has scored 840 runs so far this campaign with a whopping average of 140, but has been unable to find a place in a familiar-looking top six.
England are currently at the bottom of the World Test Championship list with New Zealand yet to name their team the reigning World Test champions after beating India in last year’s inaugural final in Southampton.
England team to play New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s:
promoted
Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wkt), Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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