{"id":729790,"date":"2026-08-06T22:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/729790\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T22:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:36:11","slug":"england-begin-post-stokes-era-with-call-ups-for-lawrence-cox-and-pope-against-pakistan-england-cricket-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/729790\/","title":{"rendered":"England begin post-Stokes era with call-ups for Lawrence, Cox and Pope against Pakistan | England cricket team"},"content":{"rendered":"

On paper, the answer to how England will replace Ben Stokes<\/a> for the Test series against Pakistan appears to be to throw bodies at the problem and have options. A 16-strong squad has been selected for the first two Tests starting on 19 August, akin to a \u00adtouring party and at risk of being\u00a0bloated.<\/p>\n

Although on announcing the squad on Thursday \u2013 a group that has Jordan Cox slated to bat at No 3, with Jacob Bethell missing the series with a knee injury \u2013 the national selector, Marcus North, laid out the intended structure of the XI that will play under Joe Root when he dutifully returns to the captaincy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The void left by Stokes will initially be filled by Dan Lawrence, who is back after two years on the sidelines and will bat at No 6 ahead of \u00adwicketkeeper Jamie Smith. Lawrence\u2019s whirligig off-breaks, plus Root, will allow four frontline quicks to play at Headingley and Lord\u2019s, two grounds where spin has a lesser role.<\/p>\n

While confirming this, North also gave a strong endorsement of Sam Curran as the intended seam-bowling all-rounder down the line. Post-Stokes, Curran or similar appears the only way Shoaib Bashir \u2013 a spinner who offers precious little with the bat \u2013 can get into the side on seam-friendly pitches at home.<\/p>\n

Curran is battling fitness niggles, however, and is not likely to be up to speed until the third Test. In the meantime, Lawrence has the chance to show he is an improved player since the last of his 14 outings. He is a form pick too, as the second highest run-scorer in Division One with five hundreds. That said, like every player in England, his past six weeks have been a strict white-ball diet.<\/p>\n

Cox is something of a wildcard at No 3, even if he had spells opening for Kent before his move to Essex two years ago. Bethell\u2019s knee problem, which has put him out of action since the final one\u2011day international <\/a>against India last month, is clearly a serious one, even if North could not provide more\u00a0details.<\/p>\n

Ollie Pope has been recalled as a reserve batter and wicketkeeper. Photograph: Richard Wainwright\/EPA<\/p>\n

Rather than indecision, the enlarged squad chiefly comes down to its stable of seven fast bowlers and this reflects a fixture schedule that sees the series start just three days after the final of the men\u2019s Hundred. While those featuring in the competition have been upping their workloads in the nets under instruction from the fast bowling coach Troy Cooley, England must wait to see who is Test-match ready.<\/p>\n

Another potential curveball is Ollie Robinson and his partner awaiting the birth of their first child in \u201cthe next seven to 10 days\u201d. Robinson took seven wickets in the first Test<\/a> against New Zealand at Lord\u2019s in June before sitting out of the remainder of the series. His cricket since amounts to three white-ball outings for Sussex.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideEngland Test squadShow<\/p>\n

Joe Root (Yorkshire, capt),\u00a0Jofra Archer (Sussex),\u00a0Gus Atkinson (Surrey),\u00a0Shoaib Bashir (Derbyshire),\u00a0Harry Brook (Yorkshire),\u00a0Brydon Carse (Durham),\u00a0Sam Cook (Essex),\u00a0Jordan Cox (Essex); Ben Duckett\u00a0(Nottinghamshire),\u00a0Matthew Fisher (Surrey),\u00a0Emilio Gay (Durham),\u00a0Dan Lawrence (Surrey); Ollie Pope (Surrey);\u00a0Ollie Robinson (Sussex),\u00a0Jamie Smith (Surrey);\u00a0Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

North stressed that while the panel are always looking to the future \u2013 Cox at first-drop in his second Test outing is the rookie by way of caps \u2013 this was a squad selected for the here and now. After six defeats in their past eight Tests, England (and management) urgently need to get back to winning ways.<\/p>\n

Not that this urgency means \u00adStephen Fleming will start his new job as Test head coach<\/a> straight away. Marcus Trescothick will perform the role against Pakistan with reports that Fleming has approached Mike Hussey about becoming the team\u2019s batting coach \u2013 the discipline Trescothick oversaw under Brendon McCullum.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to The Spin<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers’ thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week\u2019s action<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But Fleming, North said, has been involved in \u201cmany lengthy conversations\u201d leading into this selection and it would be \u201ccontradictory\u201d not to reflect his vision for the side. This may not be outlined publicly until Fleming arrives in the UK next month, however, something one suspects Root wishes came sooner.<\/p>\n

In terms of his teammates, there is a shortage of experience for Root to call on for advice during trickier moments on the field. Beyond Harry Brook, who was overlooked for the captaincy but is expected to be Root\u2019s deputy, Ben Duckett is the only other seasoned consigliere with more than 25 caps.<\/p>\n

To that end, Ollie Pope returns as a reserve batter. Pope can cover most top-seven spots and keep wicket if Smith goes down injured on the morning of a game. But the recall also owes plenty to 64 caps, \u00adincluding five as a stand-in captain, and his knowledgable team-first outlook in the dressing room.<\/p>\n

Beyond Fleming\u2019s delayed arrival or the loss of Stokes, spin may well be Root\u2019s biggest headache in the coming weeks. For all the investment in Bashir these past two years, it says plenty that England are intending to use two part-timers at the back end of what has been the driest summer for decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On paper, the answer to how England will replace Ben Stokes for the Test series against Pakistan appears…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-729790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}