England 12-member squad for first Test announced

England announced their 12-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia at the Gabba which is set to begin on December 8.

James Anderson is left out of the 12 considering the workload management and the pace department is enriched with the presence of Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson.

Jonny Bairstow also missed out the cut as Ollie Pope made it to the squad for the first Test. Jos Buttler will keep wickets and the return of Ben Stokes will be a massive boost for the visitors.

Rory Burns is likely to open the innings with Haseeb Hameed as Dawid Malan and Joe Root are set to follow them in the batting order.

Jack Leach is the only specialist spinner named in the squad.

England 12-Man Squad – first Ashes Test:

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (Wk), Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach

England is yet to win a Test match at the Gabba since 1986, when the visitors beat Australia by 7 wickets – thanks to a heroic century by Ian Botham (138).