An opener, spinner & fast bowlers – England’s first Test decisions

England’s attempt to rebuild from the rubble of the Ashes is about to begin.

In the months since the horror show in Australia was completed in Sydney, there have been revelations about Harry Brook’s nightclub punch-up, an Ashes review, a broken cheek for captain Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key keeping their jobs and the impending arrival of Marcus North as the new national selector.

Now a squad for the first Test against New Zealand on 4 June is due to be named, possibly as soon as Tuesday. The players will gather for a camp in Loughborough on 25 May.

In choosing their group to take on the stiff challenge of the Black Caps at Lord’s, England will have to make decisions over their opening pair, spinner and pace bowlers.

Zak Crawley might wonder why he is set to become an Ashes fall guy when so many around him have survived.

Crawley can have no complaints. No opener in Test history has been given as many opportunities at the top of the order as Crawley’s 104 innings and averaged less than his 30.52.

His early season form for Kent has been wretched, with a top score of 44 in five matches. Crawley’s hack to be bowled in the second innings against Gloucestershire suggested a break from red-ball cricket might be no bad thing.

Ben Duckett also had a disappointing Ashes, albeit with more credit in the bank than Crawley. England would be loathe to change both openers.

England rarely go back, and previous Test openers Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed have not made a compelling case to be recalled. New faces like Somerset’s James Rew, Glamorgan’s Asa Tribe and the Durham pair of Ben McKinney and Emilio Gay have emerged.

With 12 first-class hundreds at the age of 22, left-hander Rew is probably the best red-ball batter in the country without a Test cap.

A middle-order player by trade, England asked about the possibility of Rew opening for Somerset, which happened for the first time against Glamorgan over the weekend. Rew was out for four and nought.

Failures happen to all batters, especially openers, but Rew might have to settle for a place as the reserve batter in the squad, if England decide they want cover.

Perhaps England’s new opener comes down to a straight fight between McKinney and Gay. Both are specialist openers – former Northants man Gay is pushed down to number three for Durham. Both were on the England Lions trip to Australia during the winter.

At 26, Gay has done more to push his case in the early part of the season, with three centuries in the Championship.

Yet 21-year-old McKinney has been on England’s radar for some time. He caught the eye with a century for the Lions against a strong Australia A attack in Sydney at the beginning of last year.

Beyond the openers, the middle order is the most settled part of the England team. Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Brook and captain Stokes will be in the XI.

Spin bowling was the area of England’s Ashes masterplan left most exposed in Australia. After asking Shoaib Bashir to learn on the job, England then turned to batting all-rounder Will Jacks for four Tests, with predictable results.

In that sense, Jacks is the man in possession, and the battle to be England’s number one spinner has appeared to be wide open.

There would be an irony in England ignoring Bashir, who was picked for Test cricket when he could not get a game for Somerset, and now could be left out despite playing regularly for new county Derbyshire.

Jack Leach remains probably the most reliable spinner in the country, while leg-spinner Mason Crane is bowling well for Glamorgan eight years after he won his only England cap. Nottinghamshire left-armer Liam Patterson-White, Sussex off-spinner Jack Carson and Northants all-rounder Calvin Harrison are all respected in county cricket.

Perhaps it is time for England to invest in Rehan Ahmed. In 2022, Ahmed was an original Bazball pick when, at 18, he became the youngest man to play for England.

He has hovered on the fringe of the England team since, with none of his five caps coming at home or as the sole spinner.

As a young leg-spinner, Ahmed will have times when his bowling goes off the boil, but he also has an X-factor. Root and Bethell are reasonable options if England need a spinner to hold an end.

With six first-class hundreds, Ahmed is an ideal number eight, meaning England would never have to worry about the tail-end batting as they rotate their seamers. When Stokes retires, Ahmed could move up the order as England’s all-rounder.

Leicestershire’s Ahmed is currently at the Indian Premier League, though his Delhi Capitals face a battle to reach the latter stages. England have also shown that an IPL stint is not a barrier to Test selection.

With England at a low ebb, Ahmed would bring some mystery, exuberance and excitement.

For all the talk of batting changes, it is England’s pace-bowling department that is in the biggest state of flux.

This will be the first home summer since 2006 that England have been without all of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes. Given Mark Wood is unlikely to play Test cricket again, there is a changing of the guard among England’s seamers.

Many – almost all – of England’s latest breed of pacemen are not new-ball bowlers by trade. There have even been suggestions Stokes could be an option to open the bowling. It makes the decision to nudge Woakes into retirement look premature.

The picture is clouded by Jofra Archer’s involvement at the IPL, probably delaying his England return until the second Test. Brydon Carse has a broken wrist.

Of the two seamers nailed on to be in the squad for the first Test – Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson – Tongue has just concussed Atkinson with two blows to the head during Nottinghamshire’s Championship match against Surrey.

There are perhaps two or three pace-bowling spots up for grabs in the squad for the first Test, with plenty of candidates.

Matthew Potts has not had a sustained run in the England team and struggled when he was called into the team for the final Ashes Test. Surrey’s Matthew Fisher was added to the Ashes squad when Wood was ruled out.

England have been in touch with the exiled Ollie Robinson, while Sam Cook has been in typically excellent form for Essex. Olly Stone, so unlucky with injuries, is back bowling with pace for Nottinghamshire.

Of the uncapped youngsters, Sonny Baker is a terrific prospect and ready to move on from two difficult white-ball debuts last year.

It is probably too soon for Lancashire’s Mitchell Stanley, who is on England’s radar despite playing only five first-class matches. Some insiders say he has the potential to be the best seamer in the country.

When England name the squad, it is likely to be followed by a round of media interviews from Key.

After the off-field problems in Australia, England imposed a midnight curfew for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka and the T20 World Cup. Indications suggest it will remain in place for Stokes’ Test team.

England were criticised for the thin nature of their backroom staff during the Ashes. In March, Key suggested they will not make any full-time appointments and instead will continue to use a rotating cast on an ad hoc basis.

That would leave questions on the support for the seamers. Tim Southee could be used again, while Troy Cooley is back on the payroll as elite national pace bowling lead.

Carl Hopkinson was used as a fielding coach for the white-ball team earlier this year, though there is no confirmation on a specialist for the Test side. Paul Collingwood has not been seen with England for almost a year.