England announce squad for one-off Test against Ireland

England have announced a strong 15-member squad for the one-off Test against Ireland at the Home of Cricket, with Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes coming back after a lengthy layoff. 

The wicket-keeper batter suffered a broken left leg and a dislocated ankle and missed the majority of the cricketing action since August 2022, is back with the team and will most likely don the gloves as Ben Foakes has been dropped from the squad. 

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

"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," he added. 

England's number three in Test cricket, Ollie Pope, has been officially confirmed as the vice-captain with immediate effect. 

On the other hand, Chris Woakes is back with the team in the longest format for the first time since March 2022 and, if selected, will make his first appearance on home soil since August 2020. 

With Mark Wood, James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the side, the fast bowling unit looks lethal, to say the least. However, England will be without the services of Jofra Archer, who has been ruled out of the summer due to a recurrence of the elbow injury. 

"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," he concluded. 

England's Test Squad:

Ben Stokes (Captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope (vice-captain), Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood