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Root becomes fastest England batsman to 3,000 ODI runs

The England one-day bandwagon rolls on, a rare ODI series whitewash still in view, after they overcame a challenging position at Headingley. Chasing a modest 248 they were troubled by the returning Mohammad Irfan, slipping to 72 for 4, but two players who did not even feature in the world record at Trent Bridge, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, broke the back of the target with a stand of 103.For Stokes, who has had a frustratingly truncated season, it was his first fifty in any international format since February. He played some fantastically crisp shots, not least a brace of drives early in his innings off Hasan Ali, and there was the chance for a maiden ODI hundred before he picked out deep midwicket.Bairstow, meanwhile, had been a late call-up to play on his home ground after Jos Buttler tweaked a quad muscle during the warm-ups. He survived a tight run-out chance on 17 but had not lost any of his fluency from the Test series despite limited time in the middle since. He could not quite see the chase home in front of his home crowd, run out by a direct hit, his speed not saving him this time, but an adopted Yorkshireman – David Willey – finished the job alongside Moeen Ali with 12 balls remaining.In the end, the result was comfortable for England once the middle-order pair found their stride and Irfan, who had caused the early problems, left the field with what was indicated to be cramp. When he tried to bowl again in the 42nd over he sent down one ball, which was so wide it missed the pitch, then walked off again. In the pavilion, Mickey Arthur had a face like thunder. With overs to fill, Azhar Ali was forced to bowl himself when Irfan may have forced a late wobble.However, although perceptions can be warped so soon after seeing a record like 444 for 3, Pakistan’s total appeared significantly short. It had been anchored by Azhar’s 80 off 104 balls, but he was one of three wickets for Adil Rashid as England rarely lost control, although Imad Wasim again impressed with an unbeaten 41-ball 57. At least, though, there was a frisson of excitement early in England’s chase for a crowd boasting strong Pakistan support.Six years ago on this ground, Irfan was given a serve by the then captain Shahid Afridi after a poor performance contributed to a narrow Pakistan defeat. Afridi strongly suggest he would not play Irfan again. As with many things in Pakistan cricket it did not quite work out like that. Irfan’s return to Headingley was briefly – but only briefly – more enjoyable.In his second over he ended Jason Roy’s breezy start with a delivery that climbed and took the edge, sharply held at second slip by Mohammad Rizwan, and in his fourth gained a nick from Alex Hales from round the wicket – a change of line forced on him when he was twice warned for his follow through from over the wicket.The few moments that followed were the most intense of Pakistan bowling v England batting in this series as he roughed up Eoin Morgan from round the wicket. There was an appeal for a gloved hook – which was called wide – then a shout for caught behind which was reviewed but had clipped the back pocket.Morgan was relieved to see out the over, the last of Irfan’s opening spell. Azhar may ponder if his giant quick could have stretched to one more, while running hot, given his later absence. Still, Morgan did not last much longer as he fell offering slip-catching practice against Umar Gul.At that point England were 72 for 4 having also lost Joe Root, who had been closing in on an England record six consecutive ODI fifties when he hooked to long leg where Irfan steadied himself. It was the trickiest position England had been in since the opening ODI against Sri Lanka, at Trent Bridge, when Liam Plunkett’s last-ball six earned a tie. And this time there was no Buttler or, for that matter, Chris Woakes.But they had Stokes, Bairstow and Moeen, which was more than enough. Stokes was given a life on 34, when Mohammad Nawaz couldn’t hold what would have been a fine catch at deep square-leg from a fiercely struck sweep and Bairstow edged Imad narrowly wide of the keeper on 37. But Pakistan would have needed everything to go their way.Azhar had kept his bowlers out of the initial firing line after winning the toss, but again Pakistan’s batting was from another era. After 10 overs they were an unthreatening 40 for 1 with Azhar and Sami Aslam struggling to break free. Aslam’s struggle was ended when he top-edged to Stokes at deep square leg and, after a promising stand of 49, Babar Azam cut Moeen’s fourth ball to backward point.England’s spin duo took hold of the innings and they finished with 5 for 86 from their combined 20 overs. Plunkett’s second catch was a standout as he flung himself to his left to pluck Sarfraz Ahmed’s lofted drive off Rashid, who then made one straighten on Rizwan to trap him lbw.Rashid signed off his bowling duties, in which his second five-over spell brought 3 for 17, by having Azhar caught at long-off. When Moeen, who did not concede a boundary during his 10 overs, got one to turn and bounce to beat Nawaz there was precious little left for the final flourish.However, Imad, who had missed the carnage at Trent Bridge with a knee injury, enjoyed the return to pace. He took four boundaries off Plunkett over the space of two overs with as good a timing as any of the Pakistan batsmen had managed, before denting Willey’s figures with 16 off the 48th over to reach a 32-ball fifty.Chris Jordan was the pick of England’s attack at the death, going for 14 in a four-over spell to close out the innings, as he regularly speared his yorkers under the bat. A performance, like Bairstow later on, that reinforced the depth and interchangeability within this England squad.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has confirmed he will play his final ODI in Dambulla on Sunday, the third of the series against Australia, and his last T20 international in Colombo on September 9.His retirement comes in the wake of significant pressure from Sri Lanka’s selectors. Dilshan’s own performance has been outstanding over the past few years – he averages 49.18 in ODIs since the start of 2013, and had his most successful ODI year in 2015, when he scored 1207 runs at an average of 52.47. But with Angelo Mathews and the selectors now seeking to build a team for the 2019 World Cup, Dilshan was persuaded to retire. He had also been Sri Lanka’s top scorer in this year’s World T20 campaign, and remains, at 39, one of the team’s best fielders.Dilshan had missed the England tour earlier this year due to personal reasons, and was seen in discussion with chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya ahead of the ODI series against Australia. He is understood to have expressed a reluctance to retire, but having scored 22 and 10 in the first two matches, has since changed his mind. Sri Lanka already have opening batsmen vying for his place. Both Kusal Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka have opened the batting in this series, and Dhananjaya de Silva, who has so far batted down the order in ODIs, has opened the batting for his club through the most recent domestic season.Dilshan was a late bloomer at the top level. Having batted largely in the lower middle order for almost a decade since his debut in 1999, he blossomed as a limited-overs batsman when he became a consistent opener in 2009. Dilshan scored 1000 or more ODI runs in a calendar year four times since being sent permanently up the order, and never failed to amass fewer than 800 runs between 2009 and 2015. He was the fourth Sri Lanka batsman, after Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, to cross 10,000 ODI runs.He has also been one of the premier T20 players over the past six years. Dilshan top-scored in the 2009 World T20, where Sri Lanka made the final, before going on to become the second-highest run-scorer overall in T20 internationals – playing in two more World T20 finals, one of which his team won. He is one of a handful of batsmen to have hit centuries in all three formats. The sole T20 hundred came in 2011 against Australia in Pallekele – a favourite venue at which he will appear one more time, in the first T20 of the two-match series.Once promoted to the top of the order, Dilshan became reputed for the dynamism he brought to the opening role. In addition to the cover drives and pull shots – all hit with a rapid swing of the bat – Dilshan was also an innovator of the lap scoop, and began to regularly slog-sweep medium-pace bowlers. He alone plays the shot colloquially known as the ‘Dilscoop’, in which a length ball is uniquely deflected over the keeper, rather than over short fine leg.Dilshan captained Sri Lanka across formats between May 2010 and January 2012, and though their first Test win under him came against South Africa at the tail end of that period, the team had endured a lull during his leadership. He has, however, been an effective bowler in the limited-overs format. His offspin has brought him 106 ODI wickets at an average of 44.84.

ScorecardMark Cosgrove made 91 as Leicestershire secured a rare victory (file photo)•Getty Images

Leicestershire won their first Royal London Cup match since August 2014, hammering Lancashire by 131 runs at a startled but delighted Fischer County Ground to move above the visitors at the bottom of the North Group table.Fine innings by Mark Pettini and Mark Cosgrove, and List A career-best bowling from Neil Dexter, were the highlights of an extraordinary match, the result of which has probably ended Lancashire’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals.Put in by Lancashire captain Steven Croft, Leicestershire’s innings began steadily. Former Lancashire opener Paul Horton hit five boundaries in scoring 32 before going back to a delivery from Tom Smith that stayed a little low and being dismissed leg before wicket.Cameron Delport made a fluent 25 before edging an attempted drive at Jordan Clark, but from 93 for 2 Pettini and Cosgrove built the innings’ most substantial partnership by some distance. Initially watchful, Cosgrove became increasingly punishing, mixing powerful straight blows with a series of delicate cuts and deflections square on the off-side, while Pettini too accelerated in impressive style.The Leicestershire captain was on 92, and looking set for his first one-day hundred since joining from Essex, when he tried to clip a straight delivery Smith to midwicket and went leg-before.Cosgrove also looked set for a century, but hit Nathan Buck high to long-off where Croft fell back over the boundary as he caught the ball above his head, but had the presence of mind to toss it back over the ropes as he did so, and the athleticism to then scramble back and catch the ball again before it hit the ground.Lewis Hill and Michael Burgess followed in short order, but Dexter hit Stephen Parry for consecutive sixes and Niall O’Brien also hit out to good effect as the Foxes dragged their score past 300 – competitive, but not intimidating on a flat pitch facing a Leicestershire attack lacking strike bowler Clint McKay.The target looked even more achievable when Smith and Alviro Petersen were adding 74 for Lancashire’s first wicket, in just under 14 overs. In the circumstances Petersen’s decision to attempt to reverse sweep the offspin of Rob Sayer was questionable, the more so as he both missed the shot and dragged his back foot out, and O’Brien took off the bails with some relish.The introduction of Dexter’s medium-pace increased Lancashire’s problems, though Karl Brown had only himself to blame as he pulled a short ball into the hands of Ollie Freckingham at deep square leg. Smith looked in outstanding touch, hitting eight fours in going to 50, but remarkably then became Horton’s first victim in List A cricket.Horton had not previously bowled a single delivery in 105 List A matches, but was thrown the ball by Pettini and saw Smith’s mistimed attempt to hit his third ball over long-on give Hill a catch.Dexter then bowled Luke Procter and ended Liam Livingstone’s frenetic innings with an outswinger that found the edge. The writing was on the wall when Delport picked up two wickets in as many balls, Horton catching Clark at long-on before Croft, attempting to drive, inside-edged the ball on to his stumps.Dexter trimmed Kyle Jarvis’s off-bail and Dieter Klein, making his first team debut for the Foxes – the South African left-armer is on trial with the county – ended the match by having Tom Moores caught by Cosgrove at extra cover.

Heather Knight admitted to nerves ahead of her first match since succeeding Charlotte Edwards as England captain but added that she also felt at ease stepping into the shoes of her record-breaking predecessor.Knight made a winning start as England women beat Pakistan by seven wickets with 18.1 overs to spare in the first of three Royal London One-Day Internationals, at the Fischer County Ground in Leicester.”It was a big day, a proud day for me and there were some nerves this morning, definitely,” Knight said. “So it was nice to start with a win.”But I didn’t feel any extra pressure. Charlotte Edwards has been outstanding for English women’s cricket but I always said from the outset that I would captain the side my way so the fact that I was following her was not something I was thinking about.”And as a team we are all about looking forward rather than looking back.”Knight, who has captaincy experience with Berkshire in English domestic cricket and Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, felt there were areas in which England need to improve, despite the ease with which they won.In addition to her own unbeaten half-century, opener Tammy Beaumont made an international career-best 70.”We need to sharpen up some of our fielding and we bowled a few too many wides, so there are things where we need to work on.”But I was delighted for Tammy, who is beginning to look an established top-order player at home in international cricket.”Knight was pleased too for pace bowler Katherine Brunt, who became only the fourth England bowler to take 100 wickets in ODIs, having waited almost a year to complete the milestone.”I’m really chuffed for Katherine because she was starting to think there was a curse on it in South Africa in the winter,” Knight said.

Big picture: Nothing to separate the two teams

West Indies are wary of the Dhaka pitch, and Bangladesh are trying to get out of their ODI funk as they face each other in the first ODI on Saturday. Ranking points are up for grabs with both teams setting their sights on automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup. And there’s little to separate them historically – they have won six bilateral ODI series each over the years.Bangladesh have to sort out a batting puzzle. Soumya Sarkar’s inclusion means Tanzid Hasan will likely have to stay on the bench. Saif Hassan is an automatic choice, though he needs to strengthen his position with a big innings. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s form is still a concern, though he is getting a longer rope than some others have got over the years.Related

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Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan also weren’t among the runs against Afghanistan. Mehidy Hasan Miraz has scored runs but his strike rate has come under fire in the last two ODI series. The national selectors have added Mahidul Islam to the mix, while Shamim Hossain is another middle-order option.Bangladesh’s only plus point is their bowling. The fast bowlers have been rotated smoothly, and have done well in most conditions. Spinners Rishad Hossain and Tanvir Islam have also been in control of proceedings for the most part. They will be licking their lips with the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch in front of them.It will be the same for Gudakesh Motie and Roston Chase, the spin twins who have brought West Indies some success in recent times. They have Shai Hope and Chase for batting experience in Bangladeshi conditions, while the likes of Brandon King, Keacy Carty, Alick Athanaze and Amir Jangoo will combine to provide the rest of the batting firepower.Jayden Seales will have good memories from the last time he played against Bangladesh, at the end of 2024. Seales was in great form against Pakistan in West Indies’ last ODI series, picking up six wickets in the third ODI.Tanvir Islam is one of the few undroppable players in the Bangladesh team•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

Bangladesh LLLLW
West Indies WWLLL

In the spotlight: Tanvir Islam and Keacy CartyTanvir Islam was one of Bangladesh’s rare consistent performers in the Afghanistan series. He took just four wickets but produced good spells in all three matches. His magic delivery to Azmatullah Omarzai in the third game highlighted his improved quality as a left-arm spinner. He is also one of the few automatic choices in the current ODI setup.It’s early days, but Keacy Carty has provided West Indies with stability at No 3. He averages more than 50 with 1100-plus runs at the position. Carty has the shots to keep him finding the boundary regularly, but also has the percentage game. Centuries in Ireland and England are evidence that he can play in different conditions.Alick Athanaze should replace Evin Lewis in the West Indies XI•AFP/Getty Images

Team news: Soumya, Mahidul could enter XI

Soumya and Mahidul might slot into Bangladesh’s line-up after being called up for the series.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mahidul Islam, 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), 6 Jaker Ali, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Nahid Rana, 10 Tanvir Islam, 11 Hasan Mahmud.Athanaze is the most likely batter to replace Evin Lewis from West Indies’ last ODI against Pakistan in August. They also have Jangoo, Ackeem Auguste and Khary Pierre as allrounders.West Indies (probable): 1 Brandon King, 2 Alick Athanaze, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Gudakesh Motie, 8 Justin Greaves, 9 Romario Shepherd, 10 Shamar Joseph, 11 Jayden Seales.

Pitch and conditions

A sneak peek of the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch the day before the first ODI revealed a dark surface, which strongly suggests slow turn and a bit of low bounce. There is light rain forecast on an otherwise warm day.

Stats and trivia

• Only Hope and Chase from the current West Indies squad have played ODIs in Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh have lost their last five ODI series dating back to November last year. In that time, they have only won two of their 14 matches.

Top-of-the-table Southern Brave continued their unbeaten start to this year’s women’s competition in the Hundred and guaranteed themselves a top-three finish with a nervy penultimate-ball victory over a spirited Welsh Fire.Needing six runs from the final five, Mady Villiers was run out coming back for two from the first delivery of the set before Georgia Adams was almost brilliantly caught in the deep as she and Rhianna Southby scampered back for two and got Brave over the line with a ball to spare.Put into bat, Welsh Fire lost the big wicket of Hayley Matthews early, lbw to Sophie Devine for a first-ball duck.Sophia Dunkley looked to be continuing her form from The Kia Oval on Saturday, starting brightly and hitting four commanding boundaries.Brave made another important strike when Lauren Bell had Tammy Beaumont (7) brilliantly caught by Maia Bouchier at mid-on as the Fire reached 32 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.The impressive Tilly Corteen-Coleman returned to the attack to see the back of Dunkley (31), the spinner inducing a false cut shot to have the England batter caught behind by Southby.Georgia Elwiss reached a run-a-ball 36 not out as the Fire closed their innings on 111 for 6. Bell changed her pace and length expertly to finish with figures of 2 for 21.Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge played positively and untroubled, taking the score to 32 without loss after the powerplay and reducing the runs required to just 80.Fire then struck back to stay in the game. Wyatt-Hodge (18) was caught fantastically by Jess Jonassen at mid-off off Georgia Davis and Jonassen then came into the attack and removed Bouchier (35) and Laura Wolvaardt (3).Devine countered with a huge slog-swept six off Davis to relieve some pressure and Freya Kemp then deposited Freya Davies into the stands to take Brave closer to their target, but Kemp (17) fell soon after, caught by Shabnim Ismail at long-off off Jonassen.Chloe Tryon then went for a duck as Jonassen finished with exceptional figures of 4 for 10 before Devine (25) skied Matthews to Davies to leave her side needing 10 from the last 10 and then six from the final five.Meerkat Match Hero Devine said: “Credit has to go to the Welsh Fire there. We were probably cruising at the halfway stage and the way that they were able to fight back and take it to the last set, full credit to them.”It wasn’t our best day today, we’ll be the first ones to admit that. To get over the line is really pleasing and now we move forward.”I’m really pleased we were able to restrict them to what we did and finally get over the line there with the bat. We wanted to get ahead of the run rate and Dan and Bouch were outstanding and put the pressure back onto the Welsh Fire.”Then we probably got a little bit of the wobbles unfortunately but to be able to get over the line and people to keep their heads there at the end was really pleasing.”

Bangladesh have had plenty of troubles on and off the field in 2025. They have suffered series defeats against UAE, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. They have also lost the Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka with one match left on the tour. Ahead of the third T20I on Wednesday, frustration within the Bangladesh dressing room spilt out.Assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin reacted strongly at the pre-match press conference when it was suggested that the BCB is looking for a new batting coach. Salahuddin was appointed last November primarily as the team’s batting coach, but the batting unit has not completely clicked over the last nine months, with some holding Salahuddin responsible.Related

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“My role as a coach in the Bangladesh team isn’t set in stone,” Salahuddin said. “I have never had any ego about it. If someone better comes (in the role of a batting coach), it will be for the team. The Bangladesh team is not the property of my father and grandfather. I will get criticised when I don’t do well, I will get praised when I do well. It is the reality. Whether I give 100% for my team, whether I am honest or not, is the main concern.”Salahuddin’s main gripe was with recent media reports that he has heavily influenced team decisions including selection and player roles. Given his stellar record in domestic cricket for the last two decades, he has also developed long-standing working relations with many cricketers, including those in the current Bangladesh squad.”After coaching for 27-28 years, I am hearing that there are lots of complaints in the team against me. I really would like to know about those complaints. Best if it was given to me in writing. You have to provide hard evidence. It will help me correct myself.”If I feel that the team needs a change for the good of the team, I will most likely do that. Our team has been losing regularly, so how will I benefit from favouritism?”It is not the first time during this Sri Lanka tour that discord within the Bangladesh team has come out in public. Last month, Najmul Hossain Shanto resigned from the Test captaincy, stating that the dressing room had too many captains. Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are the T20I and ODI captains, respectively.

Trevor Penney has been appointed Paarl Royals’ head coach for SA20 2025. He replaces Shane Bond, who will focus on Rajasthan Royals’ plans ahead of the next IPL auction.The owners of the Royals franchise, Royals Sports Group, took over the Barbados team in the CPL in 2021. Penney has been in charge of the team since 2022, with the runners-up finish that year their best result under him.”I’m honored to take on the head coach role at Paarl Royals,” Penney said in a statement. “The SA20 has become a major tournament on the global cricket calendar, and I’m excited to work with such a talented squad. Being part of the Royals family with Rajasthan Royals and Barbados Royals has been a wonderful journey, and I’m looking forward to continuing that experience in Paarl. I’m confident we can build on the successes of the last two seasons and make a strong push for the title in 2025.”Related

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Penney will work alongside David Miller, who has captained Royals in both the seasons of SA20 so far.Royals made a semi-final exit in the inaugural season of the SA20 (2023) and bowed out in the Eliminator earlier this year. In the auction ahead of the next edition of the SA20, Royals had just the one slot left to fill and did that by picking wicketkeeper Rubin Hermann. Before that, they had picked former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik as their wildcard player.Meanwhile, Bond, who is the bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, will link up with new head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour to finalise the plans ahead of the auction later this year.”We’re delighted to have Trevor join as head coach of Paarl Royals,” Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said. “His track record with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and with the Barbados Royals in the CPL, where he’s helped in transforming the team into consistent contenders, shows the quality of coach he is. We believe his experience, combined with the leadership of David Miller and a talented squad, will help Paarl Royals continue their rise in SA20.”Shane Bond, who has been fantastic with us in both the IPL and the SA20, will focus extensively on his continued role with the Rajasthan Royals and spend more time in India, overseeing the scouting and trial processes along with Rahul and Vikram.”

Scotland pushed Australia hard at the T20 World Cup earlier this year – a victory would have dumped England out of the tournament – and have genuine belief they can go a step further in the three-match ODI series in Edinburgh.After Brandon McMullen’s 60 off 34 balls, the equation got down to Australia needing 87 off 39 deliveries and there was a realistic chance of an upset before Marcus Stoinis carried the game away from them. Having been 90 for 0 against England when the match was abandoned, it was an agonizing difference between the Super Eight and going home.Related

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Three games in four days with home advantage, and against an Australia side with some less experienced names, gives Scotland the chance to secure a first victory over them – and they aren’t just targeting one win.”I think we’re after a little bit of blood this week, and not just win a game but win the series”, left-arm spinner Mark Watt told the Cricket Scotland website. “We can definitely take inspiration from that game in St Lucia, but we also have a little bit of a point to prove, as we all believe we should have won that game and kicked on further in the World Cup. We can say we got close, but actually in the back of our heads we’re disappointed that we didn’t win.”All 15 players who were at the T20 World Cup are part of the squad for this series, but one new name for the Australians who were there will be pace bowler Charlie Cassell who burst onto the international scene with the best figures on ODI debut when he took 7 for 21 against Oman.”It’s a great opportunity for them to share the field with world-class players,” Scotland head coach Doug Watson said when the squad was announced. “They’re wanting to put in some huge performances and compete, and really push this Australia team. The goal for us is to win this series. The first game is really important – if we can win that, it’ll set up the next two matches.”Scotland have been the beneficiary of Ireland being unable to host Australia as originally scheduled due to financial constraints. Australia last played a bilateral match against them in 2013 when Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh combined for a first-wicket stand of 246. Current captain Richie Berrington was part of the Scotland side.In 2018, Scotland had one of their most famous days when they beat England by six runs at Edinburgh but opportunities against the leading nations outside of global events are few and far between and they are desperate for more.”It is frustrating we don’t get the opportunities to play the big boys, so to speak,” Michael Leask told . “Even the likes of Bangladesh and West Indies, we don’t get opportunities to play against them. And we would take any opportunity, because the more high quality cricket we get, the better we get.”We would love them to come and play us more often but we understand sometimes it is not feasible. We want any fixture we can get against the big boys, but they have got a heavy schedule. This is our opportunity. It would be nice if the higher associates got more exposure. We punch above our weight a lot of the time and that is down to the quality of the group we’ve got.”

England will hand debuts to the Surrey duo of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith for the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s, which begins on Wednesday.Chris Woakes also returns to the XI, his first Test appearance since being named player of the series in last summer’s Ashes, while offspinner Shoaib Bashir makes his home debut after three Tests in India at the start of the year.Atkinson, who has made 12 appearances for England in white-ball cricket, was unused on the tour of India but has been earmarked as a long-term pace option, registering in the late 80s and early 90s mph at his most fluent. A breakthrough 2023 summer saw him earn selection for the ODI World Cup, though he was omitted for this summer’s T20 World Cup. This season, he has taken 14 County Championship wickets at 29.78 for Surrey, who lead Division One.England XI to play West Indies•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Smith, meanwhile, will assume the gloves as England move beyond Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow. The 23-year-old has been in fine form across all formats and marked his maiden call-up with his second first-class century of the season. He is currently Surrey’s top-scorer with 677 Championship runs at 56.41 with a strike rate of 76.67. He earned two ODI caps against Ireland at the end of last summer and will slot in at No. 7 with Harry Brook returning to the No. 5 position having missed the India series following the death of his grandmother.Ben Stokes slots between the pair at six, and is back to fulfilling his allrounder duties, which has allowed for the selection of Bashir. After impressing with 17 wickets in India, England underlined their faith in the spinner by selecting him in the squad ahead of Jack Leach, despite the fact Bashir had to move on loan to Worcestershire for first-team opportunities with Leach the No. 1 spinner at Somerset.Related

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Woakes adds to that balance as an option with the bat, and will likely be an ever-present this summer in what is set to be a transitional period for England with the impending retirement of James Anderson.England XI: 1⁠ ⁠Zak Crawley, 2⁠ ⁠Ben Duckett, 3 ⁠Ollie Pope, 4⁠ ⁠Joe Root, 5 ⁠Harry Brook, 6⁠ ⁠Ben Stokes (capt) 7⁠ ⁠Jamie Smith (wk), 8⁠ ⁠Chris Woakes, 9⁠ ⁠Gus Atkinson, 10⁠ ⁠Shoaib Bashir, 11 ⁠James Anderson