LONDON: England Cricket Board on Tuesday announced a 15-member squad for the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s, marking the return of Jonny Bairstow after a prolonged injury layoff. 

With the wicket-keeper batter back in the side, Ben Foakes has been dropped from the team.

Bairstow last played international cricket in September 2021, before a golf accident left him with a fractured leg and dislocated ankle. He missed all of England’s winter programme, including the T20I megaevent in Australia, where his team became the World champions for the second time.

He returned to action only recently in the County Championship for Yorkshire and now looks ready to take the gloves during the Ashes, which begins on June 16.

Another positive for England is the inclusion of James Anderson, who suffered a minor injury while bowling on the opening day of Lancashire’s County clash against Somerset.

The ECB said that they would evaluate his fitness before the Ireland Test and his inclusion bodes well for the hosts.

Fast bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have also been recalled, with the latter coming back in the Test squad for the first time since March 2022 and if selected, it will be his first Test on home soil in the last two years.

Meanwhile, Jofra Archer, who returned from the ongoing IPL to assess discomfort in his elbow, was not considered after being ruled out for the remaining summer with a recurrence of a stress fracture to his right elbow.

Ben Stokes will be leading the side with right-handed batter Ollie Pope as his deputy.

“We are looking forward to the summer ahead and getting into the swing of things, starting with a good test against Ireland,” said ECB Managing Director for England Men’s Cricket Rob Key.

“It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad. He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about.

“It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer. He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

“I would like to wish the players every success, especially those returning after some time away,” he concluded.

The four-day Test will be played from 1 to 4 June at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, London and will only be the second time when the two nations play a red-ball game. Interestingly, the first one, played in 2019 was also a four-day affair, which England won by 143 runs.

With the home Ashes against Australia in sight, England will be looking forward to getting some game time before facing their arch-rivals.

SQUAD: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

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